Reason To Love
by aestheterxses
Summary: You no longer have the reason to love anymore. You thought he loved you, you thought everything was true. But it all came crashing down, and you became numb to everything. Running away from these feelings that you felt seems to be the only way out. Will there be anyone out there, who can make you feel again?
1. Broken

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters from Haikyuu, they belong to their rightful owner: Haruichi Furudate.

I hope you'll enjoy this!

* * *

 _[name] stood rooted to the ground with fear as she stared at the person before her. Oikawa Toru. Bruises were seen on her arms and legs, and another hit landed on her face by her boyfriend of 3 months. Oikawa had been abusive towards her the entire time during their relationship._

 _But she loved him too much, to the point that she's willing to just go through every single rampage he sets upon her. She loved him, not because he was popular. She loved how he could actually be himself around her, but yet it seems he's taking advantage of her love. She loved him when he showed "care" for her when she was depressed. But now?_

 _Roughing her up time and again whenever things didn't go his way, be it due to volleyball, school or family. She never tells anybody about how Oikawa had treated her all these while, nobody would believe anyway. He's too popular among the girls._

 _The sad thing was, he never protected her from his fangirls. Ever since Oikawa and her got together, whenever she stepped into school, it has been a hectic running for her. She runs away from his insane fangirls. Despite being a year 3 student, and also the Middle Blocker of the school volleyball girls team. She was constantly called the attention seeker, for every week she goes to school with new scars on her arms._

 _Another hit on her head, and [name] started to black out. Upon blacking out, she heard the words that her boyfriend spoke to her falling body._

" _You're mine. And only mine. Only I get to treat you this way."_

* * *

 _[name] tried her best to hold in her tears as she stood around the corner, watching her supposedly boyfriend hugging another girl so intimately and kissing her on the lips._

 _That was the final blow. [name] felt a weight on her shoulder, and she turned to face whoever it was. Surprised that it was Oikawa's childhood friend and "pillar", Iwaizumi Hajime. He had on a disapproving look at what Oikawa was doing, but he led [name] away instead._

* * *

 _[name] held the blade to her arms and started to slash. Staring at how her blood trickled down her arms. She was back to the way she was before. Depressed, feeling worthless. Angry at herself. Hating herself._

* * *

 _From that day onwards, [name] skipped school. She had opted for a transfer to another High School then, and she even shifted out of her parents' house, for the sake of not wanting Oikawa to find her for another roughing time. She had apologised to her teammates, but told them to keep a secret that she was transferring out. Only her teammates knew how Oikawa treated her, as her captain once saw it with her own eyes._

 _They respected her decisions, but with misery shone in their eyes as they saw the scars on her arms when she gave them a final hug._

* * *

[name] sighed as she stood in front of the mirror. She was adjusting the bow around her the collar of her new uniform. She had transferred to Nekoma High, on such a short notice, yet she felt relieved that she was supposedly free from her now ex-boyfriend's abusive nature. She had also moved into the neighbourhood as well, and the school was within a certain walking distance for her.

She slipped on her shoes and was just about to leave the house when all of a sudden her phone rang. She took a look at it, and noticed that it was Ai, the captain of Aobajōsai High's school girls' volleyball team. [name] hesitantly answered.

" **[name]! How are you coping? The girls and I miss you!"**

"Fine, I guess. I'm just about to head for school."

" **You know, you could at least sound excited though! Are you going to join the volleyball team at Nekoma High as well?"**

"Maybe. I don't know."

" **Really, girl! You're always this indecisive! Alright, I'll call you whenever I'm free ya! Take care!"**

[name] then hung up the phone and sighed. She no longer had the feel for volleyball, or so she thought. Whenever she saw people playing in the park, she couldn't help but feel heartache. Volleyball was the reason to how she and Oikawa met. But Oikawa wasn't the reason to why she started volleyball. She loves volleyball ever since Middle School.

She shook her head to stop herself from thinking and she noticed the time. Crap, she was going to be late. On the first day of school as well! She then hurried and left her house, locking the door behind her and ran down towards the school as fast as she could.

* * *

"Alright, settle down! The bell has already rung! Hurry up and get to your places! Really." The teacher of year 3 class 5 was shouting and trying his best to get the students into their places, and then he turned to face the door and beckoned [name] to enter.

The chatters in the class soon ceased as most of them stared in shock as [name] entered.

"This is our new student; she has just transferred into this High School. Please take good care of her."

"A pleasure to meet all of you. I'm [name]." [name] spoke, trying her best to ignore the whispers that were going around in the class.

"Isn't she from Aobajōsai High?"

"She's the middle blocker in Aobajōsai High's school volleyball team!"

"Isn't she Oikawa's girlfriend? Why is she here?!"

"I heard Oikawa dumped her for another girl."

"Really?!"

"Enough chattering already and settle down! [name] you can sit at the empty seat near the back." The teacher then pushed [name] slightly and she nodded and started to walk to her desk as the teacher turned to leave the classroom.

[name] soon settled down and placed her bag onto the floor when all of a sudden she felt someone getting extremely close to her. She quickly turned her head around and noticed that she was staring into a pair of narrowed eyes and cat-like pupils.

"Excuse me?" she managed to speak.

"What's the middle blocker of Aobajōsai High's volleyball team doing here in Nekoma High?" and that's when [name] realised that she was seated, just beside the captain of Nekoma High's volleyball boys team, Kuroo Tetsuro.

"Do you mind, backing off?" [name] snarled as she pushed him back a little. He shrugged his shoulders and moved back to his desk space, still waiting for her answer.

"It's none of your business anyway." [name] shot down his question and got out her books for the lesson.

"Of all people, I have to be seated next to this lanky captain." She muttered to herself, not noticing that Kuroo was smirking at her the entire time.

* * *

The bell rang, indicating that it was lunch break already. [name] didn't have the appetite to eat, so she just stayed in her seat while she got out her phone and looked at the messages she has been receiving ever since the start of the first day for her.

" **Nene, how's school so far for you?" – Haru**

" **Hopefully they're not giving you a hard time!" – Aikiko**

" **[name]! I miss you! Hope you're doing fine!" – Mira**

And she immediately glared at the very last message that she had received.

" **Why aren't you in school anymore? You're not supposed to be hiding from me." – Oikawa**

Her hands immediately trembled as soon as she read finished that message, she didn't even notice that Kuroo was looking over her shoulder. She then tapped and held onto Oikawa's message, and deleted it straight off. She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Yaku, Kenma and I are going to grab some stuff to eat. Want a tour around the school?" Kuro whispered into [name]'s ear and she flinched and punched him in the chest. Hard.

"Stop invading my personal space, damn it!" she whisper-yelled. Kuroo just shrugged his shoulders as he walked away. That's when she noticed a light brown hair and eyes boy standing beside Kuroo, and an average height with a small build boy who has cat-like golden colored eyes and blonde hair with black roots standing at the door.

"Yaku Morisuke." The brown head held out his hand and shook [name]'s hand.

"Kozume Kenma." Kenma mumbled and nodded at [name], that's when she realised that she didn't notice Kenma walking into the classroom.

"[name]." she spoke and nods back in reply and watched as Kuroo, Yaku and Kenma left the classroom.

* * *

[name] sighed as she stretched. It was a pretty hectic start for her for the first day of school. She was just about to set her head on the table when all of a sudden the classroom door was slammed opened, and in came a few girls.

"You're [name] right?" the first girl to arrive at the desk asked. [name] stared dully and just nodded.

"I'm Kyoko, from Nekoma High's volleyball team. A pleasure to meet you." Kyoko held her hand out, and [name] gladly shook her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you as well. May I help you with anything? You seem to be finding me." [name] spoke with a straight dull look.

"Please join our volleyball team." The whole volleyball team bowed down and asked in union.

[name] sighed as she rubbed her temples. She hadn't had the thought of joining the volleyball team as she wanted to avoid Oikawa as much as possible. She had somehow… Lost the reason to continue playing her favourite sport.

"I… I don't have the feel for volleyball anymore." [name] mumbled and looked away from the team in front of her.

"You're lying! Big sister always talks to me about you!" a sudden voice piped up from behind.

They all turned to take a look, and [name] stared at her wondering why does she look so familiar.

"Are you, Ai's younger sister?" [name] asked.

"Yes! I'm, Aiyu. Big sister always talks to me about how well you block, how well you spike. And how much you love volleyball and devote yourself to it! There has to be another reason to why you're hesitating to join the volleyball school team! Is it because of Oikawa-senpai?" Aiyu spoke.

The moment Aiyu mentioned Oikawa's name, [name] gripped the edge of the desk tightly.

" _Ne, Iwa-chan~ Who's that girl?" Oikawa asked as he saw [name] block an extremely fierce spike from one of the boys in the volleyball team._

" _That's [name]. A first year like us." Iwaizumi answered as he continued to play passing with Oikawa._

" _She's interesting." Oikawa smirked as he suddenly slams the ball down and hit Iwaizumi in the face instead._

" _Shittykawa…" Iwaizumi muttered as fire surrounded his body and he immediately slam back the ball right in the face of Oikawa._

" _S-Sorry!" Oikawa squeaked out._

* * *

" _You're [name], aren't you?" Oikawa asked as [name] was taking a break from playing a practice match with the boys. [name] turned and nodded in response and turned to grab her bottle of water._

" _How long have you played volleyball?" Oikawa asked again, a little agitated from being responded in that manner._

" _7 years. Started at age 11." [name] mumbled._

" _That's quite long. Let's be friends?" Oikawa held his hand out, and [name] stared at it for a little while before shaking his hand, and that's when he saw the fresh cuts on [name]'s arm._

* * *

" _Nene! [name]! Let's practice volleyball together!" Oikawa called out from where he was, surrounded by his fangirls. [name] could only smile and just show a thumbs up as she walked into her class with Iwaizumi._

" _[name], you're still self-harming aren't you?" Iwaizumi asked as he grabbed and lifted [name]'s arms to his eyes. [name] could only look away as she tried her best to get out of his hold, which he eventually let go and sighed, letting her walk to her desk._

* * *

" _SHITTYKAWA, STOP IT!" Iwaizumi shouted as he saw how tired [name] was from practicing with Oikawa. She had bruises forming on her arms as she tried to receive Oikawa's jump serve. He was clearly venting his anger on [name], and Iwaizumi noticed it._

" _Oh, hi Iwa-chan~" Oikawa called out, going back to his usual happy go lucky self. [name] soon collapsed as she was extremely tired. The bruises she had were extremely painful, and her new scars opened due to the impact as well, and she was about to cry but held it in instead._

" _[name], I'm so glad that you're in the school team~" Oikawa called out as he walked towards Iwaizumi. She trembled slightly at how Oikawa talked to her about that, and knew that… He didn't really mean what he said. He took advantage of her depression._

"Hey." And all of a sudden [name] felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and was staring into the eyes Kyoko.

"I'm from Year 3 Class 2. If you need any help in settling down, just look for me! And if you still love volleyball, that alone is one strong reason to join us." Kyoko smiled and turned to leave the classroom along with the other volleyball teammates.

[name] was really debating hard, to whether should she continue volleyball or not. She loves volleyball, she knows that. But the memories of Oikawa seem to haunt her pretty badly. She sighed and leaned back into her chair, and looked up to the ceiling.

All of a sudden she saw a hand stretched with a sandwich, blocking her view of the ceiling. She sighed and grabbed hold of the sandwich and looked down, knowing that Kuroo, Yaku and Kenma had already returned from the canteen.

"Eat up." Kuroo spoke as he munched on his sandwich.

"Thank you." [name] mumbled as she unwrapped the sandwich and started to take small bites out of it. She then felt her phone vibrated and she looked down at who had texted her, and she… felt heartache almost immediately.

" **You transferred? Haha, wow. So you abandoned your boyfriend eh?" – Oikawa.**

[name] gripped her phone tightly as she trembled and it vibrated once more and she took a look again.

" **Iwa-chan told me that you've broken up with me. Silent break, really? Hah. You do know that you belong to me forever, don't you?" – Oikawa.**

[name] shut her eyes tight as the tears started to form in her eyes. She managed to keep it in, but she didn't notice that Yaku, Kuroo and Kenma had on a worried look on their faces. She then opened her eyes and continued to eat the sandwich.

* * *

The dismissal bell signalling that school has ended soon sounded, and [name] packed up her stuff. She was just about to leave when Kuroo pulled her bag, causing her to look at him.

"What do you want, bed head?" she asked, and Kuroo widened at the nickname that she had called him.

"Bed head?" he asked and tilted his head to one side, and [name] imitated him and answered back.

"Yes, bed head."

"Tch. Where do you stay? I'll walk you home." He said that all of a sudden and [name] was taken aback slightly. She then shook her head and tugged her bag out of his grasp and started to walk away, shouting back.

"No need for that. I'm good on my own."

"Tch, stubborn." Kuroo muttered to himself, and yet a smirk formed on his face.

* * *

[name] was walking around the school for a short while, trying to familiarise herself with the new environment. She then stumbled upon the gym where the volleyball girls were having their training.

"Nice serve!"

"Cover, cover!"

"Alright!"

"Nice one-touch!"

[name] was standing behind the door with her head popped out. She was watching how the volleyball girls were practicing, and she noticed her hands were itching to play, but she controlled herself instead.

All of a sudden there was silence, yet [name] didn't notice until…

"[name]-senpai!" Aiyu called out, and she realised that the whole volleyball team was staring at her. She yelped and quickly ran away, not realising that Aiyu was chasing after her.

When [name] stopped at the school's entrance gate, she realised that Aiyu was just behind her, panting as well. She was just about to walk off when Aiyu grabbed her bag and spoke.

"P-Please, I'm hoping to be on the same team as you. B-Because of you, my relationship with my sister has gotten better! I can't thank you enough at all!" Aiyu burst out, and immediately ran away.

[name] stood there dumbfounded, and soon remembered that she had helped Ai with building up her relationship with her sister.

" _ **Stop taking my things, damn it Aiyu!"**_ _Ai shouted into the phone and immediately hung up. She then sat beside [name] on the bench, resting from the previous match that they had._

" _Seriously, I can't believe she's getting even more bold!" Ai whined and leaned onto [name]'s shoulder._

" _Don't you think you're being too hard on your sister? I mean, she is your younger sister." [name] mumbled._

" _Hard? How is that hard?! Do you know that she has been taking my things without permission and I caught - ." [name] then immediately cut her off with;_

" _But you do realise that she has no mother love since young, while you had. Think about it." [name] mumbled and pushed Ai's head off her shoulder as she went back to practice._

 _Ai could only stare at the back of [name], and mumbled to herself, "Mother's love…"_

* * *

"Hm, what else do I need to get?" [name] spoke to herself as she walked down the aisles in the supermarket. She had to do her own grocery shopping since she was already living alone. She looked down the aisle, not looking forward and all of a sudden she bumped into someone.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" she bowed and apologised, when all of sudden her eyes narrowed. Before her stood the very same bed head that has been annoying her during the first day of school, and right behind him were the volleyball boys team.

"Ah, [name]! Fancy bumping into you here. Watcha doing?" Kuroo asked as he walked closer to [name], and she took a step back following the rhythm.

"Shopping, obviously." She muttered and turned to walk away when Kuroo held her by the arms.

"Isn't she the middle blocker from Aobajōsai High?" a guy with thick eyebrows and a mohawk that appears to be dyed spoke.

"Isn't she Oikawa's girlfriend?" an extremely tall guy asked.

[name]'s free hand tightened into a fist, and Kenma noticed. He then looked at Yaku who quickly got the others to shut up.

"Please let go of me." [name] spoke, and Kuroo made no sign of wanting to let go.

"Oya oya oya. Aren't you going to join the volleyball team? They're missing a middle blocker and a captain as well." Kuro whispered into [name]'s ear, and all [name] did was to nudged him with her elbow right in the chest, and he let go due to the pain he received.

"Stop annoying me, damn it bed head." She spat out and grabbed her basket and quickly walk off to the cashier to pay.

"Tch, feisty." Kuroo smirked as he rubbed his chest.

"Nene, Kuroo. What's up with her and Oikawa?" Lev asked.

"I don't know. But it seems that she has bad blood with Oikawa already. That's why she transferred to Nekoma High." Kuroo mumbled as he picked out an ice-cream.

"Oya? Is Kuroo struck by her charm?" Yaku smirked, and all of a sudden Kuroo pushed his head down.

"She's interesting." Kuroo mumbled as he walked towards the cashier.

* * *

[name] sighed as she stepped out of the shower. She then grabbed hold of a towel and headed towards her room's balcony and stood there, looking up to the night sky full of stars while drying her head.

" _Someday, I'll bring you to watch the meteor showers!"_

[name] smiled faintly at the heart-breaking memory that went through her mind, and she felt heartache. She sighed and continued to look up at the night sky and dry her hair when all of a sudden…

"Oya?" she heard a voice opposite of her balcony and she turned to face down and look at who it was. She immediately widened her eyes and stared at the person opposite of her.

"You got to be kidding me…" she mumbled to herself as she continued to stare at the tall and thin with a muscular but still slender frame, with narrowed eyes and cat-like pupils. And of course, his stupid bed head hairstyle. None other than, Kuroo Tetsuro.

"[name], you stay here?" Kuroo called out, and [name] immediately duck into her room, slamming the balcony doors shut and pulling the curtains in.

Kuroo stood there, with a bewildered look and was wondering what had just happened.

* * *

[name] threw herself onto her bed and turned to look at her bedside table. There laid her very last photo she had with the volleyball team from Aobajōsai High. She smiled sadly at it, and then she realised that she hasn't checked her phone yet. She quickly grabbed hold of her phone and read off the message from the screen.

" **Nene, I hope to see you in the volleyball team! I want to play against you, [name]!" – Haru.**

" **[name]! I heard that my sister, Aiyu was pestering you to join the team! I'm sorry if it was bothering you too much!" – Ai.**

" **[name], how was first day of school for you? I hope you coped well!" – Mira.**

[name] then widened her eyes at the very last message.

" **Hey [name]. I hope you're coping well in Nekoma High. Don't worry, I didn't tell Oikawa where you are. Take care. And don't give up on your favourite sport for shittykawa. Don't cut yourself already. Goodnight." – Iwaizumi.**

[name] then laid back in her bed, and sighed.

"Maybe, I should. I don't know anymore."


	2. Promises

Kuroo laid in his bed as he thought about [name]. He had noticed her scars the moment she sat next to him during class, and she noticed how her eyes were filled with just, dullness. He had also noticed how much she trembled whenever Oikawa was mentioned.

"I can't leave her alone just like that." Kuroo mumbled to himself as he turned and tried to fall asleep. He then immediately shot up from his bed with wide opened eyes.

"What the heck is wrong with me?!"

* * *

[name] stood in her bathroom, looking at herself, and then down into the basin where it was stained red. She had woken up from a nightmare that had caused her to feel extremely depressed. Her antidepressant medications were finished, and she realised that she didn't see her psychiatrist then for another prescription.

Afraid. Useless. Worthless. Pathetic. Waste of space. Nobody will love you. Weak. All these words flashed through her mind once again, and she picked up the blades with shaky hands and slashed down once more.

"I don't have a reason to love anymore."

* * *

"Did I miss her?" Kuroo mumbled to himself as he waited outside of the gate of [name]'s house. He had been debating to whether he should confront her about her scars now, or to wait until one day she breaks down.

"Damn it, what's wrong with me!" he whispered yelled to himself.

* * *

[name] was done slipping on her shoes. She looked down to her arms that were covered by her blazer and smiled a small smile. "At least it's covered." She mumbled to herself and left her house.

"You're finally out! I thought I missed you!" [name] flinched a little as she was just about to lock the gate. She turned and came face to face with Kuroo, who had on a smirk. She made a face at him and turned back to lock the gate before walking off down the road.

"Let's walk to school together!" Kuroo called out as he chased after [name].

* * *

There was an awkward silence among the duo as they walked to school together. Or rather, [name] was ignoring Kuroo the entire time.

"Hey. Why do you cut yourself?" Kuroo asked all of a sudden, causing [name] to stop in her tracks.

"I don't cut myself." She smiled at him, and was just about to walk off when Kuroo grabbed hold on her arm tightly, causing her to wince in pain which Kuroo noticed. He then pulled her towards him and pushed up the sleeve of her blazer. His eyes staring at the fresh cuts from last night.

"Why?" he asked.

"It's nothing." [name] spoke and got her arm out of his grasp and was about to walk away when Kuroo stopped her by caging her. He had her against the wall of someone's house, and each of his hands were by her head.

"Tell me." He demanded, but immediately regretted it when he saw the look in [name]'s eyes. Fear. She was trembling too. [name] was afraid. A vision of Oikawa slamming his hand down flashed before her, and she quickly used her hands to cover her face, yelling, "Don't hit me!" and she started to tremble even more.

"[name]? I'm not hitting you. [name]!" Kuroo shook her by the shoulders, and she immediately stopped trembling and looked at him, with fear still in her eyes.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" she apologised and pushed Kuroo away, quickly walking down towards the school for they were going to be late.

"Crap, I screwed up." Kuroo mumbled as he ran after [name].

* * *

"[name]?" the teacher called out. It was literature, and the teacher had wanted her to answer some of the questions that he had just asked.

"[name]?" he called again. [name] was just busy staring down at her literature book, not paying attention to anything and especially her surroundings. Kuroo then nudged her with a pen and she flinched. He then pointed to the front, and she noticed the teacher was staring at her the entire time.

"I-I-I'm sorry…" she apologised and stood up. The teacher had on a soft smile, and his eyes were shone with concern.

"[name], do you want to go to the infirmary? You don't look too well."

Sure enough she looked extremely pale, and the morning incident had shaken her up quite a bit. She nodded slightly, and then the teacher called out once again.

"Kuroo Tetsuro, be a gentleman and accompany her to the infirmary will you?" [name] immediately tensed when the teacher mentioned his name.

"I-I-It's okay! I can go by myself!" she stuttered out.

"Like hell you can. You don't even know where it is." Kuroo mumbled as he pulled [name] by the hand and out of the class.

* * *

"That's weird, the nurse isn't in." Kuroo muttered as he took a look around the infirmary. He sighed and then pulled [name] into the infirmary and made her sit down on the chair. He then headed towards the first aid kit and got out bandages.

"Remove your blazer." He instructed [name], and she did with trembling fingers. He sighed at the amount of cuts she had on her arms, and then he sat down in front of her. He grabbed hold of one of her arms gently, and started to bandage the arm.

[name] could only stare at what Kuroo was doing, wincing once in a while.

"I'm sorry." Kuroo apologised, and [name] looked up to him with a confused look.

"For what?" she asked.

"For… Making you run away in fear." He mumbled.

"I-It's okay. It's just… bad memories…" she whispered softly, but Kuroo heard it.

"I'm sorry if I triggered any. I'm just… worried." And [name] stared at him with wide eyes. Kuroo then grabbed hold of her other arm and started to bandage it.

"Maybe, when I'm a little better, then I'll tell you?" [name] spoke, and Kuroo looked at her. He smiled softly as he saw a small smile on her face. He just nodded and continued to bandage her arm.

* * *

"[name]-senpai!" and [name] looked up from her desk and spotted Aiyu.

"Good afternoon, Aiyu. What can I do for you?" [name] asked with a smile on her face.

"I-I heard from my sister about… What happened…" she mumbled, and [name] widened her eyes in surprise, but softened and stood up. She then patted Aiyu on her head, ruffling her hair a little and spoke.

"I'll be fine. No worries." And she walked down towards the door of the classroom, when all of a sudden Aiyu shouted.

"[name]-senpai! We're having a practice match against the boys today! Please come!"

[name] then titled her head to the back with a soft smile on her face, and she spoke, "Maybe." And she waved the application form in front of Aiyu before turning to leave the classroom for lunch.

* * *

"What's nice here?" [name] asked as Kuroo brought her around the canteen along with Kenma and Yaku.

"Grilled Salted Mackerel Pike!" Kuroo announced, whereas Yaku and Kenma rolled their eyes at him.

"You're just stating your favourite food, Kuroo." Yaku commented.

"The curry rice is nice here, [name]." Kenma spoke and then his attention went back to his beloved video game.

"I guess; I'll have that then." And she walked towards the stall that was selling curry rice.

"Isn't she Oikawa's girlfriend?"

"She must have really suffered a major heartbreak!"

"Did you guys know she has depression?"

"Ew, so she self-harms?"

"Attention seeker."

Whispers filled the canteen as [name] was waiting for her turn in line. She then gave up and walked away from the stall, walking straight past Kuroo, Yaku and Kenma who were waiting for her with their food.

Yaku immediately grabbed hold of [name]'s hand and pulled her back. She sent a glare at him as he pointed with his finger, towards Kuroo.

"Oi. Enough of the trash talk." Kuroo spat out, and the whole canteen went quiet.

"I've lost my appetite. You guys go ahead." [name] mumbled and quickly got out of Yaku's hold and walked off quickly.

"Damn it, stop worrying me already." Kuroo muttered under his breath, which Yaku and Kenma both heard, and they stared at each other, smirking in fact.

* * *

[name] laid in her bed. She had skipped the rest of school for the day as she really felt very shitty. She looked at the time and realised that school is about to end in 10 minutes, and the girls' practice will be starting at 1730, which was in 40 minutes' time. She then stared at the application paper on the table, intensely.

" **I hope to see you in the volleyball team!"**

" **Take care. And don't give up on your favourite sport for shittykawa."**

" **If** **you still love volleyball, that should be the only reason why you'll join us."**

"Urgh, I hate you all." [name] muttered under her breath as she got out of bed and brought out her volleyball shoes and gears.

* * *

"Kenma, nice serve!"

And the ball got over the net. The libero of the girls' team, Naomi, managed to receive it nicely, passing it to the setter, Aria, allowing her to set to the wing spiker, Yuki. Yuki raised her hand up, about to spike when all of a sudden Kuroo jumped up just in time, blocking her spike.

"Don't mind, Yuki!" Kyoko called out, trying to encourage Yuki. Even though she herself was discourage as it was only the first set, and it was a score of 15-09, with the boys' team leading.

"Kenma, nice serve!"

The ball spun and got over the net, and Kyoko tried her best to receive it, and she managed to hit it. But it went out of the gym.

* * *

"Kenma, nice serve!"

[name] heard the shouts as she stepped closer to the gym. All of a sudden a ball flew out of the gym, and [name] caught it. She had on a surprised look as she walked towards the gym. She stood at the door of the gym, and threw the ball in, shooting a comment as well.

"And who's receiving is that bad to the point it flew out of the gym?" she asked.

"[name]/[name]-senpai!" the girls called out.

"Yo." [name] greeted and held out her application form. Kyoko gladly took the application form from her hand and cheered;

"We got ourselves a middle blocker!"

[name] then walked towards the coach and manager, greeting them as well.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness. I'm [name]." [name] introduced herself, and the boys' coach chuckled.

"Ah, [name]. I've seen your matches before. Don't disappoint me." He commented, and all [name] could do was to smile.

"Alright, [name]. Go and do your warm up, we'll put you into the game as soon as you're done." The girls' coach spoke and [name] hurried to do her warm up, not realising that Kuroo was watching her the entire time.

"KUROO!" and then the ball slammed into Kuroo's face.

* * *

"YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME." [name] yelled as soon as she was put on court for the second set. The reason to why she yelled, was because she was in the frontline. No, not because of that. But because the boys' team current frontline consisted of Kuroo. Of all people, she had to go against Kuroo first.

Kuroo smirked and spoke, "Surprise me, [name]."

[name] gritted her teeth and then smirked, "Oh, I will. Bed head."

And the game was on.

"Lev, nice serve!" and Lev served. The ball flew… and hit the net, and dropped into their own court. [name] stared with a confused look on her face as she saw Yaku kicking Lev and Kuroo's face turned red from embarrassment.

All of a sudden Kuroo turned and yelled at Lev, "Lev! After this practice match, I'm going to whip you into shape!" and the boys team snickered as Lev gasped. "DON'T YOU GASP ME RIGHT NOW LEV."

"Oi, oi. Let's get back to the game, bed head." [name] called out, and giggled when Kuroo turned to face her with the embarrassed look still on. What she didn't know was, Kuroo was blushing as well.

* * *

"Yuki, nice serve!" and Yuki served the ball and it got over the net.

"Nice receive!"

"Kenma!" Kuroo yelled, and [name] prepared to mark him. Kenma then set the ball to Kuroo who jumped up and swung his hand back. But [name] actually knew what he wanted to do. She jumped up and raised her hand, like a blocker would. But Kuroo did a feint instead. He smirked as his body descended down to the ground, but soon his smirk was gone when he saw [name] was smirking.

That's when he realised the ball was hit up, and he noticed that [name] had stuck her foot out to hit it up.

"Nice one, [name]!"

"Aria cover!"

[name] then got into her spiking position and called out to Aria. Aria nodded and set towards [name]. She jumped up and was about to spike when Kuroo jumped up with a smirk on his face, indicating that he's definitely going to block her spike.

[name]'s eyes shifted to the side, and Kuroo saw it. His arms immediately went to the sides, but then [name] spiked a straight instead of a cross. The ball ended up hitting the floor of the opponents' court.

Everybody stood, staring at what had just happened. Kuroo had on a very shock look as he stared at where the ball had hit on the floor. Silenced filled the gym for a good one minute, until…

"THAT WAS A KILLER, [NAME]!"

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

"HAH, TAKE THAT BOYS!"

The girls cheered, and Kuroo turned to stare at [name]. [name] stared back with a confused look and she tilted her head. All of a sudden Kuroo's face turned red and he quickly looked away. [name] shrugged her shoulders as she got back into her position.

* * *

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Cover, cover!"

And Kenma set to the boys' team's ace, Yamamoto Taketora. [name] quickly ran beside Kyoko and jumped up with her. Taketora did a full swing, shouting out as well, and slammed the ball hard, doing a cross. [name] quickly moved her arm to the side and managed to let her fingers touch it, slowing the momentum of the ball.

"Tch!" Taketora click his tongue as he stared at [name], where she just returned his stare with a smirk.

"Nice one-touch!"

"Cover, cover!"

[name] then got into her position and called out, "Aria!". Kuroo, Taketora and Kenma quickly got into position to block [name]'s spike, but it never came. The ball still ended up in the boys' side of the court, and they turned to look that Aria had tossed the ball to Aiyu who was free from blocks.

"Boys, you're getting played out by the girls this time round." The boys' coach called out, and the boys couldn't help but have an embarrassed look on their faces.

* * *

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

And [name] marked Kenma, watching his movements. She then noticed that both Kuroo and Taketora were running, but she also noticed that Lev was running as well even though he was in the backline. With a smirk, she waited for Kenma to toss the ball, and she chose not to block. She immediately went a little further away from the net and position herself.

Kuroo didn't spike, nor did Taketora. It was Lev, and Lev's spike landed just nicely at where [name] had positioned herself. Lev gasped at what had happened as he quickly went back into his position.

"Sorry, it's a bit short! Cover me, Aria!" [name] called out, and Aria did as [name] got into position. Aria then tossed the ball towards [name] and she jumped up. Kuroo, Kenma and Taketora, the trio jumped up as well, and they were sure enough that they will be able to block [name]'s spike. She smirked and slammed the ball.

It hit the fingertips of Kuroo's hand, and it flew out of the court. As they landed, the boys stared at where the ball had landed, and the coach called for a timeout.

"Did she… Just did a clean wipe?" Kai asked.

"Yeah… She just did… On Kuroo too…" Yaku spoke as he still stared at where the ball had landed.

"NICE WIPE, [NAME]!"

"THAT WAS SO AWESOME!"

"PLEASE TEACH ME!"

And [name] was surrounded by the volleyball girls as they had their break. The girls' coach soon came over and started to praise the team, whereas on the boys' side…

"Really, you guys are letting that middle blocker toy with you." Their coach chuckled. He then stopped laughing and looked at Kuroo, "Do the Personal Time Difference Attack." Which Kuroo then smirked and did a thumbs up to Kenma.

Not knowing that [name] sensed something was going on, and she spoke up, loud enough for her teammates and coach to hear, but soft enough for the other side to not hear.

"I've got a feeling." She mumbled.

"What is it?" Kyoko asked.

"That they're going to try something." [name] mumbled again.

"Any suggestions?" the coach asked.

"Not much, just look out for my signal." [name] mumbled again.

* * *

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

The score was 23-21, with the girls leading.

"Nice receive!"

"Are they not going to try anything?" [name] thought to herself as her eyes remained on Kenma. She then noticed Kuroo was about to do a quick, but she felt something was off. She quickly signalled Naomi to stay behind her, and sure enough when [name] jumped, Kuroo didn't jump to spike, even though Kenma had tossed a ball. That's when she realised Kenma tossed a high one, and that had caused [name] to fake out.

Kuroo then finally jumped and spiked a straight, and he smirked. But soon enough he stopped smirking when he saw that [name] was smirking as well.

"Nice one, Naomi!" Aria called out.

"Connect, connect!"

Naomi did as what [name] had signalled, and sure enough she received Kuroo's spike.

"Aria, cover!"

"Alright!"

And both [name] and Yuki ran up, getting into a spiking position. Kuroo was marking [name], whereas Taketora marked Yuki. Aria jumped up and was about to do a toss when, all of a sudden she did a dump instead, causing Kai to slide hard on the floor.

The boys stared at what had just happened, and they honestly couldn't believe their eyes at what had just happened.

"Nice dump, Aria!" [name] called out and gave a thumbs up. Aria smiled shyly as the girls crowded around her and gave her nudges.

"Set point!" the manager called out.

"Come on girls, one more point and this set is ours!" Kyoko called out.

* * *

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kenma cover!"

And Kenma jumped, about to do a toss but he decided to do a dump instead, which [name] realised it just in time and stuck her foot out before the ball hit the ground. The ball flew up then.

"Nice one, [name]!"

"Aria, cover!"

Yuki, Kyoko and [name] ran up to take a spiking position, and Aria tossed the ball. But she didn't toss to any of the trio, she tossed it to the back, to Aiyu who jumped up and slammed the ball down. It got past Kenma's blocking, and it hit the ground just before Yaku could save it.

"Nice one Aiyu!" the team called out and ruffled the girl's hair.

* * *

[name] and the girls were resting as they watched the boys cleaning up the gym. They had lost to them in the final set, and so now they had to clean up the gym.

"Nene, [name], what's your type of guy?" Yuki asked as she bit into an apple.

[name] shrugged her shoulders, her heart was in pieces to the point that she can't even think about her ideal type. She was tired of loving, tired of giving it a try. Too scared to even think about it.

"Is it Kuroo-senpai?" Aiyu asked. [name] then stared at her with confused eyes and shook her head.

"Well, he seems interested in you though." Kyoko commented as she took a sip from her water bottle.

"Oi, [name]! Let's walk home together!" Kuroo called out as he was mopping the floor. [name] just gave a thumbs up and looked back to the girls, who were giving her a weird look.

"What? He just lives next door." [name] spoke and shrugged her shoulders.

"He totally likes you." Aria said as she tied her hair up.

"Even if he does, I'm not capable anymore." [name] answered and shrugged her shoulders again.

"What do you mean?" Naomi asked as she tied her shoelaces.

"I don't have a reason to love." [name] said and stood up.

"I'm done. Let's go [name]!" Kuroo called out as he grabbed his bag and walked past them.

"I'm heading home first, see you girls!" [name] waved and grabbed her bag.

"See you!" the girls called out, and Aiyu was being cheeky and she added on.

"Enjoy yourselves~" which then the girls giggled as [name] gave a weird look while Kuroo had on an extremely red face.

"Yeah, enjoy yourself, Kuroo~" the boys called out, and Kuroo's face became even more red. [name] then rolled her eyes and grabbed hold of Kuro by the collar of his jacket and dragged him out of the gym, heading home.

* * *

The walk home was awkward as silence was the only thing between Kuroo and [name]. Kuroo sighed and decided to break the ice between them then. He had one thing on his mind the entire time, and he wanted [name] to promise him.

"Hey, [name]." he called out.

"Hm?" [name] responded.

"Can you promise me something?" he asked.

"What is it?"

Kuroo then grabbed hold of [name] by her arms and made her look at him. Kuroo had on a serious look in his eyes, and he wasn't smirking. Which kind of intimidate [name] slightly, but she knew that Kuroo isn't going to hit her or whatsoever.

"Promise me, you won't cut." He finally managed to get it out of his mind.

"Promise me whenever you feel depressed, you'll call me. You won't cut. I want to be there for you." And Kuroo stopped.

" _Crap, what if she thinks it's a confession?!" he thought to himself._

"Alright." [name] replied. Kuroo blinked and stared at her with a confuse look on his face.

"I said alright, I promise! Now give me your phone already, you bed head!" [name] snapped as she had been holding her hand out for the past one minute. Kuroo then quickly got out his phone and handed it over to [name], where she keyed in her number and handed it back to Kuroo.

She then proceeded to walk back home, and Kuroo soon ran up to catch up with her.

* * *

"Thank god it's the weekends tomorrow. I'm so tired."

[name] laid in her bed, and yawned. Her body was just about to give in to exhaustion anytime soon. She then stretched over and grabbed her phone off the table, and looked at the messages she had yet to read.

" **I heard from Aiyu that you joined the volleyball team, and even trashed the boys!" – Ai**

" **Hey, I heard from Ai that you joined the volleyball team. Hope to see you soon! Hehe." – Haru**

" **Oi, [name]. I heard from Ai that you joined the volleyball team. Good job!" – Iwaizumi**

" **Hey, remember our promise alright? ^^ Call me whenever you need someone to talk to. Anyway tomorrow is the weekends, and practices are cancelled. Do you want to you know, hang out?" – Kuro**

"This guy, did he get my number just to ask me out?" [name] mumbled as she replied to all the messages.

* * *

"Seriously, what is wrong with me?! I even got trashed by her today…" Kuroo muttered to himself as he flung himself onto his bed. His phone then vibrated and he took a look at it. He immediately sat up and smiled as he read the message.

" **Sure. But I'll probably be waking up close to the afternoon, I'm deadbeat. Let's get ice-cream! I'm craving for some, heh. " – [name]**

Kuroo then quickly typed a reply and set his phone aside. That's when he stared into space with wide eyes as he realised how he had reacted when he received a reply from [name].

"Crap…"

* * *

[name] was just about to set her phone down when it rang all of a sudden. She then took a look at it, and muttered to herself.

"Was this bed head waiting for my reply or what?" and she read the message.

" **Alright, sure! Since we both live just next to each other, just text me when you wake up then! Then I'll pick you up. Have a goodnight's rest!" – Kuroo**

And then [name] placed her phone onto her bedside table, and allowed the exhaustion to take over her body, allowing her to fall into a deep sleep.


	3. Day out in town

Kuroo laid in his bed wide awake. He had woken up in the early afternoon, and now he's currently waiting for [name]'s text to indicate that she's awake. He kept looking at his phone and sighed after seeing that she hasn't texted him yet.

"Maybe she didn't want to hang out after all…" he mumbled.

"Wait, why am I thinking like this?!" he asked himself in his mind with wide opened eyes.

His phone vibrated in his hands, and he quickly lifted it up to his eyes, hoping that it was a message from [name]. But his hope was soon dashed as he saw that it was from the group chat from Nekoma's boys' volleyball team.

" **Yo. Everybody awake? Want to hang out?" – Yaku.**

" **I just woke up not too long ago. Where do you want to hang out?" – Kai**

" **Yo, yo, yo! I'm cool with anything!" – Taketora**

"…" – **Kenma**

" **Let's go out!" – Lev**

" **Oi, Kenma! You're going out too!" – Inuoka**

" **Where's captain?" – Yuki**

" **Probably still asleep…" – Shohei**

Kuroo clicked his tongue as he typed a reply to them…

" **I can't join you all today. I've got plans." – Kuro.**

" **Oya, oya, oya. With who?" – Yaku.**

" **Probably [name]…" – Kenma**

" **Definitely her…" – Kai, Taketora, Lev, Inuoka, Yuki**

" **Enjoy!" – Shohei**

" **SHUT UP! I'm just bringing her around the neighbourhood since she just moved in only! Nothing else!" – Kuroo**

" **Yeah… Sure…" – All the other members**

"Damn it. I can't believe I'm acting this way because of her. This is so confusing!" Kuroo yelled as he slammed his head into his pillow.

* * *

[name] groaned as she woke up to a hungry stomach. She stretched her body in her bed and let out a loud satisfying growl and turned to the side to grab her phone. She stared at the time as she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes.

"Ah… It's only… WAIT WHAT?! 14:28?! Oh crap! Kuroo!" she yelled and quickly opened her messages to see all the messages that she had received while she was in her sleep coma.

" **Are you awake yet?" – Kuro**

" **Come on, it's already 1pm!" – Kuro**

" **[name], T_T" – Kuro**

She quickly typed a reply to Kuroo and immediately rushed for a quick shower.

* * *

Kuroo was just about to doze off when all of a sudden his phone vibrated again.

"If it's the team again I swear – Oh." And his frown turned into a grin when he realised he had received a message from [name].

" **Hey! I'm sorry! I just woke up! Give me 20 minutes and I'll be ready to go! See ya!" – [name]**

"Yes, she's awake!" Kuroo cheered and did a pose while kneeling on his bed. Then he opened his eyes wide and hit his own head hard.

"Damn it Kuroo! Stop acting like you're in love with her!"

And he rushed to prepare himself.

* * *

[name] groaned as she changed her shirt for the 6th time. She was planning on wearing a long sleeve shirt since she wanted to hide her scars but another side of her is yelling saying that it's hot outside, and she must be crazy to wear a long sleeve shirt!

[name] scratched her head hard, and she heard her doorbell rang. She ran down to the front door, still clad in her long sleeve shirt, and opened it, revealing Kuroo. He was wearing a short sleeve black coloured t-shirt along with black jeans and covered shoes. His hair was still in his normal bed head hairstyle, and it was causing [name] to wonder if that was his natural hairstyle.

"Ready to go?" Kuroo asked, snapping [name] out of her thoughts.

"W-W-Wait! I'm still deciding what to wear!" she blurted out.

"Ah? It's hot outside, so maybe you shouldn't be wearing long sleeves." He pointed at her shirt.

"B-B-But…" [name] stammered, and Kuroo figured out to why you were hesitating.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure nobody looks at you." He patted her head, assuring her. She then just nodded and headed up to change into a plain white t-shirt and she wore some denim blue shorts. She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but noticed the scars on her arms. She hesitantly left her room after grabbing her bag and walked to the front door to meet up with Kuroo.

"Much better. Let's go." Kuroo spoke and turned, leaving [name] to lock the door and follow him soon after.

* * *

"So, what do you want to eat?" Kuroo asked as both [name] and him stood in front of the order counter, looking at the variety of ice-cream flavours before them. Kuroo had decided to bring her around the neighbourhood to get her familiarised with the place.

"Hm… I'll try that one." [name] spoke as she pointed to a certain flavour, [Ice cream flavour].

"Alright! Then I'll get the [ice-cream flavour]." Kuroo chuckled and headed to order for them both while [name] went to grab a seat near the window.

Soon enough Kuroo came back with two ice-cream cones with spoons stuck into it, and he sat opposite of [name], handing her one of the cones.

"How much is it? I'll pay you back." [name] asked as she grabbed hold of the cone and was about to get her wallet out when Kuroo stopped her.

"It's my treat. Take it as a welcome gift." He smirked and winked at her, whereas [name] just rolled her eyes.

"You're such a flirt, bed head." She commented as she ate her ice-cream.

* * *

"Hey, you want try mine?" Kuroo asked, and [name] nodded. She then leaned over as Kuroo brought the cone closer to her, and she was just about to take a bite when Kuroo smacked her mouth with the ice-cream, causing her to stare with surprised eyes.

Kuro was smirking the entire time, and then his smirk turned into a wide grin as he saw how stun [name] had actually looked.

"Hehe, alright let me try yours!" Kuroo spoke and he leaned in. [name] smirked and did the exact same thing to him, causing him to yelp in surprise. She then giggled as he saw how he tried to get the ice-cream that has landed on his nose with his tongue.

"Tch! Cheeky lady." He commented as he grabbed a tissue and cleaned his nose instead. [name] just stuck her tongue out at him and continued to eat her ice-cream.

All of a sudden Kuro's phone and [name]'s phone vibrated, and they both took a look at it.

 **Yaku has sent an image to Nekoma High VBT**

He then opened the chat, and immediately his face turned extremely red as he saw what the image was actually. It was a photo of [name] feeding him the ice-cream just now. He quickly turned to look outside and he saw his teammates out there, waving at him.

 **Ai has sent an image to you**

" **Aiyu sent it to me!" - Ai**

[name] then opened Ai's chat, and her eyes immediately widened in surprise. It was a photo of Kuroo feeding her the ice-cream which had happened not too long ago. [name] then looked around, trying to find the area where Aiyu could have possibly taken the photo from, and sure enough she looked out of the window and spotted the Nekoma High's girls volleyball team standing just beside the boys volleyball team.

They were all giving smirks and some of them did heart shapes with their arms and fingers. [name] just rolled her eyes and stood up when she noticed Kuroo had walked out of the café with his ice-cream cone in the hand and he pushed Yaku's head down, hard. Glaring at his teammates.

[name] walked towards the girls as they giggled when they saw her. She rolled her eyes again and passed Aiyu the ice-cream cone, telling her that she can have it, which she gladly accepted and started to eat like a kid.

"So, are you two dating?" Aria asked and giggled when Kuroo's face went extremely red.

"They probably are…" Kenma commented as he continued to play his game on his PSP.

"No, we're not. Get that thought of your heads you lot." [name] spoke and took a look at everyone.

"Alright~" they called out, and [name] sighed because she knew they're not going to let this matter rest.

"[name]-senpai! There's a carnival just in town, do you want to go with us? We're going with the boys." Aiyu asked as she took the last bite of the cone and finished it, cleaning her mouth with a tissue.

"Sure." [name] replied as she stretched a little.

* * *

"Nene, Ai-chan~ Where did [name] transfer to?" Oikawa called out as he was in practice with the girls.

"Tch, how would I know." Ai spoke and blocked the spike that was coming.

"Oya? You're not going to tell me?" Oikawa continued as he tossed another ball to Iwaizumi.

"I have no idea." And Ai blocked Iwaizumi's spike once again.

"Then…" Oikawa picked up a ball and tossed it to himself and spiked hard.

"I'll have to find out myself." And the ball hit Ai's arm hard, causing her to wince in pain.

"Oi, trashykawa, stop being an asshole." Iwaizumi called out and threw a ball hard at Oikawa's head.

* * *

"Nene, isn't that [name]?"

"Why is she hanging out with Nekoma High volleyball team?"

"I heard she transferred ever since she broke up with Oikawa."

"Or rather, Oikawa broke up with her. He's too good for her anyway."

"Ne, but she's quite pretty."

"Shhh, they're looking at us."

Kyoko had on a disapproving look as she heard all the whispers. She then hit [name] hard on her back, causing her to choke on her drink and spitting it out like a water fountain onto Lev.

"What the heck was that for?!"

"We got your back girl!" Kyoko winked and she giggled when she saw [name] glaring back at her.

"Really… I'm starting to turn numb to all these whispers already, Kyoko." [name] mumbled as she grabbed hold of some tissues and passed it to Lev who was still dripping with the water that she had spat out.

* * *

"No! Not the haunted house! No!" Aiyu shouted as Kyoko was dragging her towards the haunted house.

"Come on, it's not that scary! Right, [name]?" Kyoko winked at [name], and all [name] did was to shrug her shoulders. All of a sudden she was pushed forward, and she turned to glare at who had pushed her.

"Come on, let's go together." Kuroo voice was heard, and [name] just stood where she was.

"Nene, come on [name]~" Naomi called out and dragged [name] towards the haunted house by her hand.

[name] wasn't scared. She was just, sick of haunted houses. She had watched too many horror movies to the point that she's just… numb. She shook her head as she saw Aiyu trembling, and Kyoko and Aria were comforting her. She saw Naomi holding onto Yuki, slightly trembling but she said she wasn't afraid.

"Scared?" Kuroo whispered into [name]'s ear. She nudged him in the chest with her elbow and glared at him, "Bed head, you need to stop invading my personal space." She spat out, and Kuroo just shrugged his shoulders and looked forward.

"Kuroo is trying hard, don't you think so?" The boys' Yuki spoke.

"Yeah, but he's being rejected flatly by [name]." Inuoka whispered back.

"HAHAHHA, the great Kuroo getting rejected!" Taketora burst out laughing and Yaku immediately elbowed him hard in the stomach, getting him to shut up.

"But you've never seen Kuroo so, affected by a girl before." Kai whispered.

"He's probably head over heels for her, but he doesn't know." Kenma spoke as he continued to play his video game on his PSP, while waiting in line.

"Or rather, he's in denial." Shouhei spoke and snickered.

"Oi, Lev. What are you doing?" Yaku whisper-yelled as he saw Lev's hand hovering at the back of Kuroo. The volleyball boys' team stood and watched as Lev pushed Kuroo towards [name], causing Kuroo to fall on top of [name]. They then snickered as they saw Kuroo's face turning extremely red, whereas [name] was glaring at him, as if she was putting a hole through his head.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I lost my footing. Hehe." Lev apologised and immediately ran to hide behind Yaku when he saw Kuroo's glare directed at him.

*Snap*

And both Kuroo and [name] turned to look at who had taken a photo. It was one of the photographers in the carnival, and he smiled as he put down the camera. He then handed out two pieces of the same photo to Aria and quickly walked away.

"Oh my god, you two look so cute together!"

"Oh damn, that distance. Kuroo-senpai, just kiss her already!"

Kuroo's face turned even more red, and [name] just stared dully at the girls fangirling over that stupid photo. She then turned to face Kuroo, an angry mark on her forehead.

"Bed head! Get off of me already!" she yelled, and Kuroo quickly scurried to his feet.

"I'm so sending this to my sister, hehe!" Aiyu called out and whipped out her phone to take a photo, and she immediately send to Ai, and handed the photos to Kuroo. [name] sighed in defeat as she stood up, and Kuroo handed her one of the photo.

"Do I have to?" she asked, wanting to just throw away the photo. Then Kuroo grabbed hold of her phone and opened the casing. The back of her casing was transparent, and Kuroo slot the photo in between the casing and phone, before sliding the phone back and handing it back to [name].

"Don't you dare." Kuroo mumbled as he saw [name] about to get her phone out of the cover. She sighed in defeat once again and let it slide. A photo on the back of her phone won't do her any harm, she guessed.

* * *

"[name], what do you want to eat?" Kyoko called out as the whole group of volleyballers stood in front of the ordering counter, staring at the fast food menu. [name] looked through the menu, but she somehow didn't manage to find anything that she wanted to eat.

All of a sudden, the girls giggled as they looked at [name]. She stared at them with a confused look before turning to look behind, and she noticed Kuroo was staring at her. She then waved her hand in front of him, and he snapped out of wherever his mind was.

"[name], let's get the Couple pack. It's cheaper, and filling." Kuroo spoke, and [name] just stared at him. He then rubbed the back of his neck.

"Crap… She's going to think I'm a creep…" He thought to himself.

"Fighting, Kuroo!" the boys and girls whisper-yelled at him.

"Okay." [name] answered as she looked at the couple pack to see it what it consisted of, while Kuroo headed towards the order counter to order.

* * *

Kuroo and [name] were walking down the street, and it was already late at night. Silenced filled the air as they were both exhausted from the outing today. Kuroo though, couldn't help but just stare at how [name] was breathing, and pulling her hair to the side as it was a humid night.

"Ne, bed head." [name] called out. Kuroo then turned his attention to her eyes, and gave her a questioning look.

"Do you think that I'll be able to get over everything?"

Kuroo knew what she was talking about. Her depression, her heartbreak.

"Of course you will. You're a strong girl."

"Ne, I don't know…" she mumbled and stopped walking. Kuroo then stopped as well and looked at her. He noticed that she was gripping her arms tightly, at the area where the scars were. He gently grabbed hold of her hand and patted it.

"You will. I believe in you." Kuroo whispered. [name] then removed her hand from his grasp, and looked up to him with tear filled eyes.

* * *

"You're doing all these, out of sympathy… You know it… Just like Oikawa…" she mumbled, and turned to walk away, leaving Kuroo shock at the words she had said.

" _You're pathetic, [name]. You can't even protect yourself from my fangirls!" Oikawa laughed._

" _T-Then… Why…" [name] whispered as tears welled up in her eyes, and she blinked them away quickly._

" _Out of sympathy. I never loved you. I did everything out of sympathy. You're my toy to vent anger on, [name]… You belong to me…" and Oikawa pushed [name] hard against the wall and he roughed her up._

 _The dates, the walks home, the kisses and hugs. The comfort, the gifts, were all out of sympathy…?_

* * *

Kuroo leaned against the railing of his room balcony. He ran a hand through his bed head hairstyle hair and let out a loud sigh. He saw the room light in [name]'s room still on, and he couldn't help but worry. Was she doing anything foolish again? What made her think that he's doing everything out of sympathy? What had happened between her and Oikawa that caused her to not trust him?

Many questions ran through his mind, and he headed back into the room once he saw the room light in [name]'s room switched off. He laid on his bed and scrolled through his phone. He went into his image gallery and stared at the photo that Yaku had sent to the group, of [name] feeding him ice-cream.

"You are really so interesting, yet you worry me so much." Kuroo mumbled as he used his finger to lightly trace [name]'s face.

* * *

[name] sighed as she tossed and turned in her bed. She felt extremely guilty about what she had said to Kuroo, but yet she feels that it's the truth. Her phone then lights up all of a sudden, and she took a look at it.

" **I'll find you." – Oikawa**

She immediately tossed her phone to aside, and tried her best to ignore the negative feelings that's about to rise up in her heart.


	4. Practice Match

Things have been going slightly well over the past two months ever since [name] started school. She had gotten back to being devoted in volleyball, but not neglecting her studies as well. In class, she is mostly paired up with either Kuroo or Yaku, as she mostly mixed around with the volleyball players. Whenever it's lunch time, she will meet up with the volleyball girls to help them with practicing their receiving, especially Yuki.

She had also become the captain of Nekoma High's volleyball girls team.

" _You know, come to think of it, I've never heard that Nekoma High had a girls' volleyball team until Ai told me that her sister was in it." [name] spoke up all of a sudden when they were practicing spiking._

" _Well, that's because we don't have a captain and a middle blocker, nor an ace. We didn't participate in any competitions at all." Kyoko answered as she jumped up and spiked._

" _Yeah, now we've got a middle blocker and an ace, two in one." Aria winked as she tosses the ball._

" _I ain't the ace, don't put pressure on me." [name] muttered as she jumped up and slam down._

" _Coach also said you're the ace." Naomi spoke as she dived to save the ball that [name] had slam down, which she managed to touch it with her hands._

" _Kyoko, why don't you be the captain?" [name] asked as she jumped up and spiked the ball that Yuki had tossed to her._

" _Me? Nah. I'm not cut out for it. I'm a total clumsy idiot when it comes to leading. I have no sense of strategy and all." She replied as she went to help Naomi to pick up the balls._

" _Alright, girls! Come gather!" the coach called out, and the girls ran and stopped in front of him._

" _We're going to have a practice match against Karasuno High on the 14_ _th_ _of March. This is going to be the very first time you girls participate in a practice match against another school, so it's time for your debut!" the coach cheered, but the girls just stared at him._

" _But coach. We don't have a captain. How are we supposed to participate?" Aiyu asked._

" _We do. Your captain is just right here." The coach spoke and pointed at [name]._

" _HUH?!" [name] shouted out._

" _Captain, middle blocker and ace. Three in one. Way to go [name]!" Kyoko called out and smacked her back._

" _C-C-Coach, there has to be some mistake! I can't be the captain. I just joined recently! L-L-Let Kyoko be the one instead!" [name] stammered out._

" _The girls voted. Even the reserved players as well. You're selected by them and me as well." The coach patted [name] on the head trying to calm her down._

 _[name] then turned to face the reserved players as well; Hikari, Enma, Lysa, Ami, Yui. And they all gave her a nod and a wide smile on their faces._

 _Soon the entire team turned to face [name] and bowed, all shouting, "Captain! Please take care of us and lead us!"_

 _And from that day on, [name] was the captain of Nekoma High volleyball girls team._

She had become best friends with Kuroo after she had seen how much he had cared for her. Constantly knowing when she's depressed, and offering to accompany her for a late night walk, or even just a simple outing to eat ice-cream. She was also quite close to the volleyball boys, as the girls and boys will occasionally play a match against each other whenever Kyoko and Taketora had an argument over who is better.

And then there's Aiyu, who was crushing extremely hard on Kenma, stating how cute he was and stuff. Yuki, well was together with Yuki. And Yaku was crushing on Naomi, hard as well.

But the sad thing that didn't change was, [name] still didn't have a reason to love. The memories of how Oikawa "love" her still haunted her, to the point that she turned numb and oblivious when people show signs of them crushing on her.

Most of them had given up when she replied dully to their confessions. But Kuroo still stayed. He didn't confess, but he saw the look in [name]'s eyes whenever she rejected any of the confessions. It clearly showed that she has no idea how to love anymore, and that she was afraid.

Kuroo told him, he will wait. He will help her. And that's why he's still here by her side, as a best friend. But he told himself soon, he will get her.

And here he was, standing in the corridor of the third level in Nekoma High, looking at how his best friend was trying her best to get out of the situation she was stuck in. Boys were shoving and pushing to get close to her as much as possible, all shouting.

"[name]/[name]-senpai! Please accept this!"

Yeap. It was White Day alright.

She was constantly rejecting everyone's box of chocolates, and came up with lies about how she hated chocolate, and doesn't like sweets. But still, the fanboys were persistent, and it was getting on her nerves.

"Guys, please. I'm going to be late for my practice match already." [name] whined as she tried to push pass the crowd, yet they were still persistent. [name] sighed and looked up, that's when she spotted Kuroo leaning against the wall with the volleyball boys by his side.

"Save me." She mouthed the words, and Kuroo just shrugged his shoulders and pushed Taketora forward. Taketora then put on his punk face and glared at the fanboys, who then ran away in fear. All of a sudden he was hit hard on the head by a book, and he turned to glare at who had hit him.

"Stop glaring at our beloved captain!" Kyoko poked him in the chest with the book she had hit him with.

"You got a problem with me?" Taketora asked and glared at Kyoko, who glared back in response.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's go Kyoko!" [name] called out and dragged Kyoko along with her, heading down the corridor to get to the gym to prepare for their practice match.

"[name]! We'll be heading down to watch as well! The Karasuno boys team are also coming to support the girls team." Yaku called out and [name] just waved to indicate that she already heard what he had said.

* * *

"Nice kill!"

Aria tossed another ball up, and [name] spiked a cross.

"Nice kill!"

Yuki tossed a ball up, and Kyoko spiked a straight.

"Nice kill!"

"Alright, that's enough! Go and change!" the coach called out, and the girls headed to the nearest toilet to change into their jersey.

[name] was the first to change, and she hurried back to the gym to put on her gears for volleyball.

"Ah, I see you're also number one." A voice spoke up, and she turned and saw Kuroo sitting on the bench with the other boys. Kuroo then stared at her figure. She was wearing the Nekoma High Jersey, with the number one on the front and back. The Jersey was both red and black, but with a sleeveless top, exposing [name]'s toned arms.

He noticed how [name] was pulling on her kneepads and he looked at her thighs and calves, looking at how toned they were. He didn't notice [name] was staring at him with an agitated look in her eyes until…

"Quit staring already, bed head." [name] snapped, and then giggled when Kuroo's face turned red.

"Karasuno's team has arrived!" the manager called out, and [name] got into position to welcome their guests.

* * *

"We'll be looking forward to our game today." [name] spoke as she shook the hands of Karasuno's team captain, Yui.

"We too, as well will be looking forward to the game." Yui smiled back.

"What's up with the orange hair kid?" [name] asked.

Yui then turned to take a look that Hinata was gaping at the gym, as if it was his first time coming to Nekoma High.

"Shrimp, this isn't your first time here you know!" Yaku yelled, and all of a sudden Lev just had to comment on his height.

"Shrimp? Yaku-san you're not that different from Hinata as well." And all of a sudden Lev started to run away in fear as Yaku was sending random kicks towards him.

"[n-n-name]-senpai!" all of a sudden both [name] and Yui heard someone calling her, and they both turned to look at who it was. There stood a boy with a shaved head with a widow's peak and sharp blue-grey eyes, wearing the number 5 on his shirt.

"T-T-Tanaka?" Yui stammered out as he saw that Tanaka was staring intensely with shock at [name].

"Do I know you?" [name] asked, and all of a sudden Tanaka felt as if his heart has been shot.

"I've heard so much about you! You were the middle blocker of -." And all of a sudden his mouth was covered and dragged away by Taketora.

"Shut up already, baldie." Taketora whispered, and Tanaka glared at him. They started to fight in a heated argument, and [name] couldn't help but feel agitated by it.

"Aiyu, ball." She called out, and Aiyu tossed a ball to [name]'s direction, and she slammed it down. The ball ended up flying in between Tanaka and Taketora, and hitting the wall extremely hard, causing the both of them to quiver in fear.

"S-S-S-Scary!" Hinata stuttered out, and was dragged away by a boy with average height and a slender build with light grey hair and hazel, brown eyes with a mole under his left eye.

"HAHAHAHAHAH." The whole Nekoma High volleyball team, girls and boys, burst out laughing at the reaction of Karasuno.

"Daichi-san, isn't she?" Suga asked, and Daichi just nodded his head.

Whereas Nishinoya was staring at [name] with eyes that were blinging with light. [name] then turned to look and realised that the boy who has a fairly muscular build with most of his wild hair ruffled upwards and the tiny tuft of hair that falls over his forehead that appears to be bleached a dirty blond, was staring at her.

She sighed and then shouted to her coach.

"Coach! Will it be alright if we have a practice match against the boys as well?" which then the Coach just gave a thumbs up and he went to speak with the coach from Karasuno.

"YES!" Nishinoya cheered and jumped onto a tall, well-built man who had his hair swept backwards with a sports hairband.

"Did you hear that, Asahi-san?!" Nishinoya cheered.

"Yeah… I did." Asahi replied with a slight discomfort.

"Let's start the game!" the coaches called out, and the girls team took their places.

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled as she brought the team together in a huddle.

"Nekoma, fight!"

* * *

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Right, right!"

And Yui jumped up, about to spike when all of a sudden she was blocked by [name]. A solid block, killing her spike as the ball hit her own court.

"Woah…" Asahi mumbled out.

"Her reflexes are fast…" Nishinoya whispered.

"She's the middle blocker, ace and captain." Kenma spoke as he continued to watch the match.

"What?! Three in one, that's cool!" Hinata yelled and stared in admiration at [name].

* * *

"Kyoko, nice serve!" and Kyoko served the ball, which ended up hitting the back of Aiyu. Aiyu turned and stared at Kyoko, and gave a slight pout when Kyoko giggled.

"Don't mind, don't mind." [name] called out.

"Yui, nice serve!" and Yui served, and it hit the net slightly before dropping into Nekoma's court. [name] then dived for the ball and hit it back up.

"Sorry, it's a little short!" and [name] quickly got up and got back to her position.

"Don't worry, I gotcha!" Aria yelled and tossed the ball to [name].

[name] ran up and jumped, about to spike when she saw number 1, Yui and number 5 jumping up to block her. She then smirked and saw an opening in between Yui's arms, and she slammed right through it, earning a point.

"Nice kill!"

And Nekoma won the first set.

* * *

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] jumped up and served hard.

It was the second set already, and the score was 15-07, with Nekoma leading.

"Crap!" Yui tried to receive the ball but it flew, and Karauno's number 4 started running for the ball, but in the end she gave up and allowed it to drop. [name] walked up towards the net, with an extremely displeased look on the face.

"Number 4." She called out, and number 4 looked at her.

"Do you not love volleyball?" she asked.

Number 4 was taken aback when [name] suddenly asked her the question, but she still answered her, "I do love volleyball."

"Then why did you give up?" [name] asked again, and Yui came up to [name] to calm her down.

"I-It was…" number 4 trailed off and [name] slammed the ball down and yelled.

"And you say you love volleyball. This is the first time I've seen someone giving up so easily just because the ball was too far away. There's a reason why your coach trains you. There's a reason why you have teammates as well. There's a reason why you're wearing that damn jersey with the number 4 on it!"

And the whole gym went silent. Even Kuroo was staring at her with a shock look on his face. And then finally, number 4 spoke up once again.

"Y-You're right… I shouldn't give up so easily…" she mumbled, and [name] got under the net and walked over to her. She raised her hand and number 4 flinched, thinking that [name] was about to hit her, but she felt a pat on her shoulder instead.

"Never give up if you love volleyball. That alone is enough of a reason for you to continue." And [name] smiled at her.

"Y-Yes!" Number 4 stammered out and [name] went back to her court.

"Oya, captain, it seems that you know what to say." Kyoko teased and [name] just stuck her tongue out at her.

"Sorry for the interruption, coach." [name] yelled out, but her coach just gave her a smile and a thumbs up, and the game continued.

* * *

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] did a jump float serve, causing the libero from Karasuno to slide desperate on the floor.

"That's… The jump float serve…" Yamaguchi stared in awe.

* * *

"Good game!" the coaches called out, and the girls lined up on the court once again and yelled.

"Thank you!" They then went to the net and shook each other's hands.

"Ne, [name]. Thank you." Yui said as she shook [name]'s hand. [name] gave her a confused look and then Yui continued, "For opening her eyes." And Yui motioned towards the number 4. [name] then smiled softly and went, "I've a friend like her as well… But at least your number 4 is willing to work hard, whereas my friend is still a lazy ass sometimes!" and she chuckled.

But somewhere in Aobajōsai High, a certain Haru sneezed.

"I think I've caught a cold…" Haru mumbled.

"Eh, no way!" Ai called out.

"Probably [name]'s talking bad about you, for being a lazy ass at times." – Aikiko called out.

And then [name] sneezed as well.

"Break time! [name], do you still want to have a match against Karasuno's boys?" the coach asked.

[name] then turned to look at her girls, and they nodded.

"Why not? It will be fun. And I want to see the freak duo in action, since I heard so much about them from bed head over there." And she pointed to Kuroo, who had his hands up in defence.

"L-Lanky!" Hinata yelled with an embarrassed look on his face.

Then [name] turned to look at the guy that Hinata was seated by. She noticed that the boy has hair that is black in colour and cropped short, with a fringe that hangs just above his dark blue eyes. She recognised him as Oikawa's junior, the one that Oikawa wants to crush so badly.

All of a sudden [name] was dragged by the arm, and she looked up to who it was, and she realised it was Aiyu. "Let's go for a cool down, captain!" she giggled as she pulled [name] out of the gym with the other girls following behind them.

"Ne, Kuroo. Did you ask [name] yet?" Yaku asked as he did a few stretches.

"Not yet. I don't know if she wants to, we are playing against Aobajōsai High." Kuroo mumbled as he dragged Lev towards the court, stating that he has to whip him into shape.

* * *

"Tsukii, nice serve!" and a tall, with average built, short blond hair, thin eyebrows and golden brown eyes, boy sent his serve over to the net. Naomi dived just in time and hit the ball up.

"Nice one Naomi!" and Yuki positioned herself to toss, and she looked when she spotted both [name] and Aiyu running up. She panicked slightly when all of a sudden [name] yelled.

"Oi, don't panic already! Just toss." And Yuki nodded and tossed it to Aiyu, who spiked but ended up getting blocked by Daichi.

"Don't mind, Yuki, Aiyu." [name] called out with a smile.

"Yuki. We trust you." [name] said and smacked her on the back.

"So quit panicking and just toss." Aiyu added on and smacked her on the back as well.

"Position!" Kyoko called out, and everybody ran to their positions.

* * *

"Tsukii, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Yuki!" [name] called out, and Yuki nodded, tossing to [name].

[name] then jumped up and did a full swing when she noticed that Kageyama and Hinata were trying to block her. She then spotted the libero positioning himself behind them, and Daichi at the side. She smirked and slammed hard, aiming Kageyama's fingertips and the ball went out of court.

"NICE WIPE, [NAME]!" Taketora called out.

The Karasuno's boys team stared in shock at [name] as she landed, and the Nekoma team smirked at their reactions.

"This girl, she's toying with the boys again." The coach shook his head with a smile on his face.

"Again?" Ukai, the coach of Karasuno's team asked.

"She toyed the boys team from Nekoma High that time, and they lost badly. She's able to read everybody's move before deciding." The coach continued.

* * *

"Aria, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kageyama cover!" and Kageyama positioned himself to toss. [name] then looked around and spotted Hinata running. She quickly signalled to Naomi to stay in the back centre, and signalled to Yuki to block the right. Sure enough Hinata saw that he was being blocked by Yuki, and he ran to the left instead. [name] smirked and saw that he jumped and Kageyama tossed to him.

She quickly ran as she was in the frontline centre, and managed to touch the ball with her fingertips, and she tossed it up, allowing Naomi to be able to receive it nicely.

"Yuki!" Naomi called out and passed it to Yuki, who then position herself to toss, and both [name] and Aiyu started to run and get into position. Yuki jumped up to do a toss, and then she did a dump. Causing Daichi and Hinata to slide hard on the floor and collide into one another.

"Nice one, Yuki!"

"That captain is trouble." Suga commented. Ennoshita then looked at him and gave him a confused look. "That was the first time that Hinata used the quick attack. And she managed to slow the momentum of the ball, even tossing it up!"

The Nekoma boys team overheard what Suga had said, and they smirked as they continued to watch the match before them.

"Match point!" the manager called out.

The score was 24-21, with Nekoma's girls leading.

* * *

"Hinata, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

And Aria got into position prepared to toss. [name] then called out to her and she nodded. She tossed the ball to [name], and she jumped up about to spike when all of a sudden Tsukki jumped up to block her. She narrowed her eyes as Tsukki smirked, but the moment she slams the ball, it hit the tips of Tsukki's fingers and flew off the court.

[name] landed the same time as Tsukki and then she turned and pointed a finger at him. He stared in shock with a sweatdropped look and all of a sudden [name] yelled.

"God, your height is as annoying as Kuroo's!" and Kuroo sneezed at the bench.

"Don't bring me in!" he yelled back as he grabbed hold of the tissue that Yaku had held out for him.

And everybody snickered at the scene before them.

The score was 25-24, with Karasuno's boys leading. And boy was [name] hyped up.

* * *

"Hinata, nice serve!" and Hinata served the ball… It ended up hitting the net, but it stayed in their court, allowing the girls to get one free point.

"HINATA, YOU DUMBASS!" Kageyama yelled.

"Don't mind, Hinata!" Daichi called out.

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] served the ball which Nishinoya, the libero of Karasuno managed to receive it nicely, tossing it to Kageyama.

"Kageyama!" Asahi yelled, and [name] quickly got behind Kyoko, spreading her legs to cover a bigger territory. Kageyama then tossed, and [name] noticed that the toss was a high toss and it was slightly away from the net. Her eyes then opened wide as she saw how Asahi jumped and swung his arms.

*SLAM*

.

.

.

"NICE ONE [NAME]!" Naomi shouted out.

"Connect, connect!" Kyoko yelled out.

"Aria!" Aiyu shouted out, and Aria tossed the ball to Kyoko when the blockers were blocking Aiyu. Nishinoya tried his best to save the ball, but he couldn't make it in time. [name]'s hand shook as she had made herself receive the entire impact of Asahi's spike.

"She… She received Asahi-san's spike perfectly…" Nishinoya mumbled.

"Match point." The manager called out.

* * *

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kageyama, left!" Daichi called out, and [name] noticed that Tsukki was running as well as Tanaka, Asahi and Hinata. Kageyama moved his eyes to the left, causing Yuki to move to the left. [name] then quickly positioned herself into the centre as she saw Kageyama toss the ball up.

The ball went behind of Tsukki and Asahi.

"IT'S MY TURN!" Tanaka yelled and slammed the ball down.

.

.

.

"NICE SAVE, NAOMI!" Naomi had run from the backline centre to the side almost immediately when she saw [name]'s signal. The ball flew up, and [name] decided. As long as when she hits the ball before she lands into the frontline zone, it isn't a foul.

"Aria!" [name] called out. Aria nodded, as Kyoko and Yuki ran up. Aria tossed the ball as Kyoko and Yuki faked out the blockers from the boys' side, and all of a sudden…

*SLAM! *

The ball ended up in the boys' court. The boys stared in shock at what had just happened.

"What… Just happened?" Yaku managed to speak out.

"She… She did a quick spike when she jumped from the backline to the front…" Taketora answered.

"She's full of surprises." Kuroo commented.

"Oi, [name]. You're crazy sometimes." Kyoko called out as she ruffled [name]'s hair.

"That killer jump from the backline and killer spike? Damn, I feel so lucky to be in the same team as you." Naomi smirked as she smacked [name]'s back.

"Match end! Nekoma wins!" The manager called out, and the girls cheered and huddled together.

"Who the heck is she, really." Tsukki asked his team, and [name] heard.

"She's [name]. She used to be the middle blocker in Aobajōsai High." Daichi answered.

"Oh? So she couldn't get the captain position so she decides to transfer? Hah." Tsukki commented.

"For a year one, you're damn cocky." [name] commented with a smirk on her face.

Tsukki was taken aback that she wasn't affected by his comments. [name] shrugged her shoulders and went to line up with the girls to bid farewell to the Karasuno teams.

* * *

Kuroo was walking [name] home. She was extremely quiet ever since their coaches had announced the upcoming events for the volleyball team after they had sent off Karasuno High's school teams.

" _Nekoma High boys' volleyball team will be participating in the Interhigh-Preliminaries, and the first school they'll be playing against is… Seijō (Aobajōsai High)" the coach announced._

 _[name] immediately tensed when she heard that the boys will be playing against Seijō. They'll be playing against the boys. They'll be playing against Oikawa…_

 _Aiyu then rubbed the back of [name] softly as she saw how tensed [name] looked._

" _So girls, I will appreciate if you lot will be able to help them with their trainings." The coach smiled, and he directed his smile towards [name]._

 _[name] just stared blankly, and everybody else had a worried look on their faces._

"[name]!" Kuroo yelled as he shook her by the shoulders. [name] immediately snapped out of her thoughts, and looked at Kuroo. She then looked around and realised that they had already reached her house.

"Ah, I'm sorry! Thank you for walking me home!" she then quickly turned to open the gate when all of a sudden she felt Kuroo tugging her bag.

"Ne, [name]. I know this is too much to ask for, but I'm hoping that you'll come watch us during the Interhigh-Preliminaries." He sincerely asked her. [name] hesitated slightly, as she knew that she will definitely bump into Oikawa then.

"I-I-It's okay if you don't come! Sorry to have asked! Have a goodnight rest!" Kuroo stammered out and quickly walked to his house which was just next door, while [name] just stared at him in a confused state, and she realised that Kuroo had shoved a gift wrapped box into her hands as well.

[name] shook her head as she went in, still thinking about the Interhigh-Preliminaries.


	5. Interhigh-Preliminaries

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the song that is mentioned in this chapter!

* * *

It was close to the Interhigh-Preliminaries. Nekoma High boys team have been practicing extremely hard, with their training starting at 5:30pm, and ending as late as close to midnight. The girls were also helping them with their trainings, and [name] was teaching them all the blocking techniques she had used during the practice matches then.

"Yamamoto, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kenma!" and Kenma tossed the ball to Kuroo who jumped up as Lev also tried to block him. Kuroo then did a straight instead as he saw the gap in between Lev's arms.

"Nice kill, Kuroo-san!"

"Lev!" [name] called out as she had been watching from the sides. The girls giggled whenever [name] called out the players' name, for they knew that they're going to get a scolding from her.

"This is the 7th time I'm telling you, when you block, don't leave such a big gap between your arms! Now that bed head is going to get cocky and start showing off to me about how he can spike through blocks!" [name] yelled and Lev paled.

And a certain Kuroo sneezed on the court.

"One more time!" [name] yelled and tossed a ball to Kai.

"Kai, nice serve!"

"Oh, crap!" Inuoka hissed as he couldn't receive the ball properly.

"Move when the ball is about to cross the net! Eyes on the ball! Gosh." [name] yelled and rubbed her temples.

"[name] now understands how I feel whenever I coach these idiots." Nekomata spoke as he chuckled in his seat, watching [name] giving the boys tips.

"One more time!" [name] tossed the ball to Kai once again.

"Kai, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Nice one, Inuoka!" [name] called out and continued to let her eyes wander about the court, watching the ball and players, and all of a sudden…

.

.

.

"KENMA!" [name] yelled, and the girls giggled again.

"Don't run away! Oh my god! Just block his damn spike!" [name] yelled again.

"But I feel my arms are going to break if I really blocked it…" Kenma replied in his monotone.

"IT'S NOT GOING TO BREAK!" [name] yelled again with an angry mark on her forehead. And then silenced filled the court as [name] took in deep breaths.

"Kenma, you better be blocking at least 6 spikes from Yamamoto, or else I'm taking away your PSP." [name] threatened with a serious look in her eyes, and Kenma immediately nodded and got serious. Whereas everybody snickered at how [name] had threatened Kenma then.

"One more time!" [name] yelled and passed the ball to Lev.

"Lev, nice serve!"

.

.

.

"LEV!" [name] yelled and groaned at the same time, whereas the girls burst out laughing at the scene before them. Lev had served the ball, right into the back of the head of Inuoka.

"God, please give me the power to not strangle idiots like Lev." [name] prayed and the girls continued to laugh at what [name] was doing.

"That's enough for today, [name]." The coach called out, and [name] who was kneeling on the floor turned to look at him, and nodded. She sighed as she stood up and went to join her girls on the floor, drinking water from the bottle as she had been shouting too much.

[name] then took out her phone to take a look at the messages, and then the girls giggled again. She looked up and stared at them with a confused look, and then Aiyu spoke up.

"You're still keeping that photo, hehe." And pointed to the back of [name]'s phone. [name] turned and saw the photo of Kuroo and her when they were at the carnival that day. She shrugged her shoulders and continued to look at the messages she had received.

" **Seijō is going to take part in the Interhigh-Preliminaries. I want to see you there." – Oikawa.**

[name] clutched her phone tightly, and sighed. She was still debating as to whether should she go to support Nekoma High, or should she just avoid going there to avoid Oikawa. She then turned to look at Kuroo who was in a meeting with the coach and the other team members. She then shrugged her shoulders and stood up.

"I'm heading home first, girls." She called out, and grabbed her back.

"Aren't you going to wait for Kuroo-senpai?" Yuki called out.

"Nah. See ya!" and she waved, waving to the coach and the boys as well, and heading out of the gym.

"OI, [NAME]!" Kuroo yelled, but she was already gone.

* * *

It was the 2nd of June, the day that the Interhigh-Preliminaries was being held, at Sendai City Gymnasium. Nekoma was registered as team 2, block A.

[name] sighed as she sat on her bed, looking through the messages she had received in the group chat with the volleyball girls.

" **[name], are you coming to watch the boys play today?" – Yuki**

[name] sighed and thought about it. She then typed a reply and laid back in her bed.

* * *

" **Nah, I'm not going. Help me cheer them on ^^"**

"She said she isn't coming…" Yuki told Kuroo, and Kuroo felt heartache.

"W-Well, it's alright. We can't force her, after all its Seijō that we're going against." Kuroo mumbled and picked up his bag to board the bus that was going to take him and the Nekoma High team to the venue. He felt disappointed, and extremely affected that [name] wasn't going to come personally to cheer them on.

He sat alone on the bus and brought out his earphones and plugged them into his phone. Then he pressed shuffle on his phone's playlist, and leaned back into the seat. A song came up, and his eyes widened at the song, as it was the song that [name] had introduced to him; Love is a beautiful pain.

" _Kimi no kokoro ni tsutsumare ta mama ai o chikai?_

 _nemure nai yoru nan do sugi te mo nē uketome te_

 _ima sugu ai tai namida tomara nai fure taku te_

 _suki da kara kurushiku te"_

" _I only like the part that said 'At sleepless nights no matter how hard I try accept me'." [name] spoke as she listened the song together with Kuroo, while leaning her head on his shoulder._

" _Ah, but I like the part where it said, 'we just said bye bye but i want to meet you again'." Kuroo answered as he stared up at the night sky before them._

" _Oh? And I wonder who you wanted to meet." [name] chuckled as she sat up straight._

" _You of course. Idiot." Kuroo said in his mind._

* * *

" _kimi to ae ba semaru taimurimitto_

 _ni nin no jikan daiji ni_

 _baibai shi te mo mata ai tai_

 _kimi to no mēru de mata saikai_

 _kaeru keshiki gai wa Twilight_

 _isso no koto kun o ubaisari tai_

 _kimi no nukumori ga kieru koro_

 _yume kara samere ba genjitsu no door"_

[name] laid in bed, listening to Love is a beautiful pain on the speaker in her room. And then she remembered the part that Kuroo had told her that he like, and she went up to her speaker to rewind to that part again.

"we just said bye bye but I want to meet you again" she whispered. She then looked out of the window, with a soft smile on her face.

"Kuroo Tetsuro, you're an idiot I swear."

* * *

"Isn't that Nekoma High volleyball girls team as well?"

"I heard they've got a captain already."

"Really? I heard they've got a middle blocker as well."

"But it looks like she isn't here."

"Nene, let's go, they're staring at us."

The girls had on extremely displeased looks on their faces as they heard the whispers.

"Come on, let's head in. We need to prepare." Yaku ushered the girls in as the boys walked in. They then bumped into their opponent, Seijō, and Oikawa stared at them with a smirk on his face.

"If it isn't the cats."

Kuroo had on a very displeased look, and so did Aiyu, who was clenching her fist. Kuroo then smiled at Oikawa to not cause any trouble, and he spoke, "Oya? A pleasure to meet you, Oikawa-senpai."

"Oikawa will do, Kuroo." Oikawa spoke, and somehow the look that he gave Kuroo, wasn't a very pleased look too.

"We're looking forward to our match against the cats~" Oikawa called out and all of a sudden he was surrounded by his fangirls.

"Oikawa-senpai! Please accept this!"

"Oikawa-senpai! Can I take a photo with you?"

"A photo? Sure!" Oikawa then posed, and all of a sudden he was hit hard by a volleyball on the back of his head. He turned to glare at who it was muttering that even the coach doesn't dare to hit him, and he paled when he saw it was Iwaizumi.

"A-Another time, ladies." He stuttered, and then he smirked at the Nekoma team and walked off with Iwaizumi. He didn't notice that Iwaizumi had nodded to Aiyu, and he seems to know Aiyu. The girls then looked at her and gave her a questioning look.

"H-He's my sister's boyfriend." She whispered, and the girls just 'oh' in response and started to walk behind the Nekoma boys.

* * *

"Iwaizumi, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kenma!" Kuroo yelled and Kenma tossed the Personal Time Difference Attack toss, causing the blocker from Seijō to fake out. Kuroo then jumped up and spiked, but the damn libero from Seijō just had to receive the ball. Kuroo gritted his teeth as he landed and quickly got back into position.

The first set was ending pretty soon with Seijō leading, 24-21.

The girls were on the spectators' bench on the second level, watching the intense match.

"Kuroo looks very distracted today." Kyoko commented.

"Probably, [name] isn't here to motivate him and the team." Yuki mumbled as she watches Lev being able to block a power spike from number 13, Kunimi.

"Aiyu?" a voice called out, and Aiyu turned to take a look.

"Big sister!" and she ran to hug her big sister.

"Hey, the whole Nekoma team is here?" Ai asked, and Aiyu looked up and saw that Ai and the volleyball girls from Seijō were there as well. Aiyu shook her head and mumbled that [name] wasn't coming at all.

"Seijō wins the first set!" the announcer announced, and the Seijō fans cheered for them.

"Ah, I missed the first set." A voice spoke up, and everybody turned to take a look at who it was. Everybody stared in shock at the girl who was clad in long black skinny jeans and covered shoes, wearing a short sleeve black coloured shirt, with her hair down.

The girl then placed a finger on her lips to shush them as she walked towards the railing and peered down towards the Nekoma side. She saw how devastated the team look, and it was irking her quite badly then. She then heard the coach yelling at them as well.

"Lev! How many times do I have to say, don't leave such a big gap! And Kenma, stop running away!"

[name] shook her head and breathed in a deep breath before yelling.

"What's up with all the sour look on your damn faces, you cats!" and then the whole team looked up to who had shouted. Kuroo's mouth immediately went up into a wide grin as he saw [name] waving at them, and he waved back.

Soon whispers were heard as well.

"Hey, isn't that Oikawa's girlfriend?"

"What is she doing, shouting at the Nekoma team and waving at them?"

"I heard she transferred to Nekoma High and joined the volleyball team."

"Really? Traitor."

And [name] felt someone staring at her. She reluctantly looked towards Seijō side, and sure enough, she saw Oikawa staring at her. He smiled at her with an angelic smile, which all the fangirls started screaming about, but [name] knew that smile meant what. She then gripped the railings tightly as Oikawa shouted at her in his kindest voice.

"So that's where you are. I've been looking for you, my love~"

And immediately [name]'s body trembled with fear, and Kuroo noticed it. He then clenched his hand into a fist tightly, trying to contain his anger. And then the whistle blew, for the second set to start. The teams quickly got into their positions then, and it was Oikawa who was going to serve. But he stopped and looked at [name].

"You're coming back with me, [name] when we win." He called out, and [name] stared at him with wide open eyes, and she shook her head in fear. Oikawa then smiled at her with an angelic smile and once again the fans screamed.

"What the heck, Oikawa wants her. She's so lucky!"

"Dumb bitch doesn't realise how lucky she is."

"Oi, Trashykawa." Kuroo yelled out, and Seijō snickered at the nickname that he had used on Oikawa which was created by Iwaizumi.

"What do you want, Rooster Head." Oikawa sneered.

"Don't even think about taking [name] away. She belongs to Nekoma High, she belongs to us now!" he yelled, and his body shook with anger. [name] just stared at Kuroo's outburst, whereas Oikawa smirked. The girls from Nekoma High also shouted, "Yeah, she belongs to us now!"

"Who does he think he is?"

"What in the world, did he just talk back to Oikawa-senpai?!"

All of a sudden [name] was pulled into a hug, by Haru. She then gripped tightly onto Haru's shirt and started to sob.

"Save… Me…" she cried out, and Kuroo's heart ached at the scene, but soon he felt anger as he saw Oikawa smirking at the scene.

"She's probably crying for attention."

"Or she just realised how much Oikawa-senpai loves her."

"[name]!" Yaku yelled out. [name] then lifted her head from Haru's shirt and looked at Yaku who had shouted. He then relaxed and gave a soft smile, and shouted once more, "You're safe with us!"

And that, got [name] stunned. She comprehended what Yaku had said, and she nodded vigorously with tears still running down her cheek.

* * *

"Oikawa, nice serve!" and Oikawa did his extremely powerful serve, but Kuroo managed to receive it nicely sending it up.

"Nice receive!"

"Kenma!" Taketora yelled out, and Kenma tossed to him, which then Taketora slammed down, but was blocked by Iwaizumi. Yaku then dived down and managed to save the ball in time hitting it up.

"Nice save, Yaku!"

"Connect, connect!"

"Pesky troublemakers." Oikawa muttered under his breath and signalled to Iwaizumi who just nodded.

"Kenma!" Kuroo yelled out, and Kenma tossed the ball to Lev as the blockers were blocking Kuroo. But in the end Lev missed the ball, and the ball hit his own head instead. Everybody stared at what happen, and the coach was about to shout when all of a sudden…

.

.

.

"LEV!" [name] yelled from the spectators' area. Lev then quickly turned and bowed to her, apologising, and [name] could only rub her temples. The girls, including Seijō's girls giggled at [name]'s outburst.

"I see she is attached to the boys." Oikawa mumbled as he set off a dark aura, which [name] sensed it and she quickly looked at him. Oikawa then smiled at her before turning his back, preparing to serve again.

"Oikawa, nice serve!"

"Yaku, nice receive!"

And Kenma tossed the ball that Yaku had passed to him to Kuroo. Kuroo then did a feint, but the libero managed to save the ball in time, hitting it up, passing it to the setter, Oikawa. Oikawa then tossed the ball to Iwaizumi, and Iwaizumi slammed the ball down, getting past Taketora and Kenma's and hitting the floor.

[name] had on an angry mark as she saw what had just happened and then…

.

.

.

"KENMA!" she yelled, and the girls giggled again.

"WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, I SWEAR TO GOD YOU WILL NEVER EVER PLAY YOUR VIDEO GAMES EVER AGAIN, IS THAT CLEAR?!" she yelled, and the coach just laughed as she took out all the words that he wanted to say. Kenma had ran away, once again.

"But if I block that my arms will-." Kenma spoke, and [name] cut him off.

"YOUR ARMS WILL ONLY BREAK IF I BREAK IT! A SPIKE WON'T BREAK YOUR DAMN ARMS. GOSH!" and then she rubbed her temples and let out a groan.

* * *

"Match point." The referee called out, and it was the third set. Nekoma High had won the second set, and now the third set was about to be taken over by Seijō, with a score of 25-24. [name] gripped on the railings tightly, as she was really afraid of the outcome. She saw how tired the Nekoma team was, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for them as they were up against Seijō.

"Kindaichi, nice serve!"

"Crap!" Inuoka called out as he didn't receive the ball properly, and it flew slightly out of the court. Kuroo immediately started to run, but he was too tired and he started to slow down.

"It's too far…" Kuroo mumbled, and all of a sudden.

"BED HEAD! DON'T GIVE UP!" he heard [name]'s yell, and somehow it gave him energy and he threw himself, stretching his arm out and hitting the ball back into the court. His back then slammed against the wall with a loud impact, and [name] could only cringe at it. He quickly stood up and ran back to his position despite feeling pain from the impact.

* * *

Nekoma High had lost. And Kuroo slammed his fist into the wall of the changing room. He wasn't angry at his teammates, or the fact that they had lost. He was angry because he couldn't protect [name] from Oikawa. He was angry that he saw [name]'s fearful look when she saw Oikawa.

"Kuroo! Hurry!" he suddenly heard a girl's yell coming from outside the changing room, and he quickly put on his jacket and grabbed his bag, running out of the changing room.

"What is it?!" he asked, as soon as the rest of his volleyball team came up behind him.

"[name], she's missing!" Naomi cried out, panting.

"We don't know where she went. One minute was with us, but when we went to the toilet, she was gone!" Aria continued.

Kuroo then clenched his fist, and then slammed into the wall just next to the door, muttering out…

"Oikawa…" and he immediately took a turn and ran down towards where the bus that was bringing Seijō back to school was.

* * *

Oikawa was just about to board the bus when all of a sudden…

"TRASHYKAWA!" he heard a yell, and turned to look, seeing an extremely angry looking Kuroo coming towards him. Kuroo then grabbed hold of Oikawa by the collar and pinned him against the bus.

"Where is she?!" Kuroo yelled as the Nekoma High volleyball teams came running behind.

"[name]? Oh I don't know~" he chanted out, smirking as well. Kuroo felt anger rising in him, and he raised his fist up and then Iwaizumi held his hand by the wrist.

"Don't. Check the back of the gymnasium." Iwaziumi spoke and Kuroo let go out Oikawa, letting him fix his collar and continue his way to board the bus. But before he entered, he turned to look at Kuroo and smirked.

"I'll be taking her back soon. Rooster head." And he entered the bus as Iwaizumi kicked him in the butt, hard.

Kuroo clenched his fist, and stood there without moving.

"Kuroo, let's go find her." Kyoko tugged on Kuroo's arm and he immediately took off running towards the back of the gymnasium.

* * *

[name] sat on the floor against the wall, crying her heart out. She had her face hidden in her hands, and her whole body was drenched. Her arms were covered with red marks, indicating that bruises are going to form.

 _Oikawa had managed to dragged her out to the back of the gymnasium, gripping her wrist extremely tight, causing her to wince in pain. She tried her best to get out of his hold, but his grip was so tight that she couldn't even feel her fingers anymore. All of a sudden she was slammed against the wall, and pinned by Oikawa._

" _You think you can just run like that huh?" Oikawa spat out as he grabbed hold of [name]'s face by the chin roughly._

" _You think that I'll let you go peacefully? Not a chance!" And [name]'s eyes had fear written in it, and her body trembled in fear as well. All of a sudden she saw Oikawa smile his angelic smile at her, and she started to tremble even more._

" _Come back to me. I missed you." Oikawa spoke as he grabbed her arms tightly. [name] shook her head, she didn't want to go back to him. She doesn't want to go back to hell at all._

" _Why not? Have I not treated you well enough? Or does your pathetic mind of yours decided that the rooster head from Nekoma will make a better choice? Well, it doesn't matter. You belong to me, and only to me!" Oikawa yelled as he gripped [name]'s arm even tighter. She was perspiring as well, from the heat that the fear in her was causing._

" _Ah, you look warm. How about a cool down, my love?" Oikawa spoke and smiled his angelic smile before letting go of [name]'s arm. [name] sighed in relief and her eyes was closed, when all of a sudden she was drenched from head to toe. She opened her eyes in shock and saw Oikawa throwing a bucket away to one side._

 _He then grabbed hold of [name] once more and slammed her into the wall again, causing her to wince in pain. He was about to say something when all of a sudden…_

" _Oi, shittykawa. Get your hands off her and let's go." Iwaizumi called out. Oikawa sighed and let go of [name], he then pouts at Iwaizumi and said, "Mou, you spoiling my fun Iwa-chan~" in his usual voice._

" _Shut up, and let's go. Before I punch you." Iwaizumi threatened, and Oikawa obediently followed him, and before he turned the corner, he called out to [name]._

" _I'll bring you home soon, [name]~"_

[name] trembled and cried even more. She hated how Oikawa was treating her, she hated how the memories haunt her. She hated how pathetic she was, how she couldn't protect herself. All of a sudden she felt her hands being pried away from her face, and she tried to hold it back when all of a sudden she heard his voice.

"It's me."

Kuroo's voice. Her best friend's voice.

She allowed him to remove her hands from her face, and then she saw Kuroo's worried face. He then pulled her up and inspected the red marks on her arms, and he unconsciously gripped her wrists a little too tight as anger built up in him, causing her to wince.

"Oi, Kuroo! You're hurting her!" Yaku yelled, and Kuroo immediately let go of her. He then saw her body shiver from the cold as she was drenched, and he immediately removed his jacket and draped it over her, pulling her close to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're safe with us… You're safe with me." He whispered, trying to calm the frightened [name] down.

* * *

[name] sat on her bed with a towel draped over her head. She had just showered, and there she was thinking about the incident that had happened earlier. She was traumatised. And she felt suicidal. She was so into her thoughts that she didn't know that Kuroo had entered her room. She had given Kuroo the spare key to her house just in case anything happens to her, and she didn't realise how glad Kuroo accepted it.

She suddenly felt someone drying her hair with the towel and she flinched and turned to look at who it was. She then relaxed as she saw it was Kuroo. Silence filled the room, none of them said a word.

"Goodnight." Kuroo spoke as he got up and drape the towel over a chair in [name]'s room, and proceeded to walk towards her room door to leave, when all of a sudden he felt [name]'s arms wrapping around his chest, tightly and she was trembling as well.

Kuroo then turned his body to face her, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly as well. He rubbed the back of her up and down in order to calm her down. He then picked her up and placed her into her bed and covered her. He pulled the chair over to her bed, and he sat down there.

[name] knew Kuroo wouldn't be leaving her for that night, and she allowed herself to fall asleep while holding his hand in hers, tightly.


	6. Final Examinations

"Why are our trainings combined again, urgh." Aiyu groaned as she dragged herself to the first gymnasium in Nekoma High. The other girls just snickered at how Aiyu was reacting as she had been studying her ass off for the final examinations that were coming up. She was seen dozing off in the canteen when the girls had gone to get her as her classes ended extra early today.

"It shouldn't be that bad, maybe we'll be able to trash them again!" Kyoko giggled.

"You know Kyoko. Sometimes I'm wondering if you're purposely picking a fight with Taketora just to get a match and trash them, or you like Taketora." [name] spoke as she continued to walk towards the first gymnasium.

"W-W-What?! No way will I like him!" and Kyoko's face turned beet red. [name] then turned and bent down slightly as she was the tallest in the volleyball team at the height of 167.3cm. She then placed her face extremely close to Kyoko, and Kyoko stammered.

"W-W-What?!"

"Ne, you do like him." [name] commented and straightened her back. She then turned to continue walking towards the first gymnasium, leaving Kyoko speechless and her face getting extremely red.

"You're exposed big time, Kyoko-senpai~" Yuki called out and skipped to catch up with the captain.

"I-I-I DO NOT LIKE THAT MOHAWK DELINQUINT!" Kyoko yelled.

* * *

"I-I-I DO NOT LIKE THAT MOHAWK DELINQUINT!" Kyoko yelled.

And Taketora sneezed and paled at what Kyoko had yelled. He then cleaned his nose with the tissue that Yaku had provided, and he stood in line with the other boys of the volleyball team and he noticed the boys were snickering at him.

"Quiet!" the coached yelled, and the boys stood at attention.

"Yo, coach." [name] called out as she entered the gym and placed the bag at the side. She then quickly removed her indoor shoes and put on her sports shoes, soon joining the boys in line.

"[name], stand behind us. You and the girls don't have to be at attention." Her coach said, and then [name] stared in confusion before moving behind the coaches. She then signalled her teammates to come stand with her when they had entered the gym.

Once the girls had settled down, then did their coach continued where he had stopped.

"Summer Training Camp is coming up. So as your final examinations." The coach continued, and Aiyu sighed at the word 'examinations', which [name] just patted her on the head.

"But with grades like these, I highly doubt your school is going to allow you to take part in the Summer Training Camp! The Camp is after your examinations." The coach continued and held out the report cards.

"I have no problem with the girls." And he showed the report cards of the girls, and randomly handed it out to the boys.

"Kyoko got 4 A+ and 2 As and 2 Bs." Taketora read out as he stared in awe.

"Aria has got 3 A+ and 2 As and 3 Bs." Kai commented as his hands shook.

"Yuki has got 2 A+ and 2 As and 4 Bs." Yuki spoke and he looked at his girlfriend with a proud smile, causing her to blush and look away.

"W-Woah, I think Naomi scored way better than me. She has 1 A+, 4 As and 3 Bs." Yaku stuttered and looked at Naomi with a blush on his face when he saw her smiling at him.

"Aiyu has 2 A+, 3 As and 3 Bs." Kenma read out and stared at Aiyu. He gave the look like how he always gave whenever he was about to go home and play a new video game that he had bought.

"What about [name]-senpai? Kuroo-senpai?" Lev asked, and he leaned over and gasped at the report card.

"N-N-No way…" Shohei and Inuoka muttered out, and the boys soon crowded around Kuroo.

 **Japanese – A+**

 **English – A+**

 **Mathematics – A+**

 **Science – A+**

 **Social Studies – A+**

 **Health – A+**

 **Physical Education – A+**

 **Art – A+**

"Straight A+?!" the boys yelled out, and Kuroo stared at [name] in shock.

"Way to go, captain!" Kyoko smacked her hard on the back causing her to choke on her saliva.

"Please tutor me when I need help!" Naomi and the other girls started to ask her for help then.

The coach then cleared his throat as the manager gathered back the report cards, he then handed out the boys' report cards to the girls, in an order.

"Girls, the report cards that you're going to get, you're going to help me tutor these idiots." He spoke as he handed out the report cards.

"Yuki-kun, you're kidding me aren't you? 6 Cs and 2 Fs?" Yuki read out and glared at her boyfriend.

"And Haiba Lev too! 5 Cs and 3 Fs?! I'm going to have a hard time…" Yuki shook her head as she held two report cards in her hands.

"Inuoka Sho, 2 A+, 4 Cs and 2 Fs." Aria read out and just stared at him, until, "I thought you were always taking notes since I see you scribbling the entire time in class." And Inuoka had on a deep blush on his face.

"Shouhei and Taketora, all have 2 A+, 4 Cs and 2 Fs… Except for Kenma… 6 Cs and 2 Fs…" Aiyu mumbled out and groaned. She then turned to face the trio and pointed at them, "And you guys told me that you all have been studying extremely hard, my ass!" and the girls just snickered at her outburst.

"Kai and Yaku, both have 2 A+, 3 Cs and 3 Fs…" Kyoko mumbled out. She then turned to look at them. That's when she noticed [name] was looking at the report card as well, and then she turned to look at the one in her hand.

"The A+ are definitely Physical Education and Health… Be thankful that the ones you get at least has Cs in them." [name] muttered and glared at Kuroo, who just paled.

"Bed head, it just clearly shows you're sleeping in class the entire time, and only focusing on volleyball. What's up with the 2 A+ for Physical Education and Health, whereas the bloody 6 Fs for the rest?!"

That's when everybody noticed the coaches and manager had already left the gym, leaving them alone. [name] then huffed and grabbed Kuroo by the ear and pulled him down to her level.

"You, are in deep trouble young man." She whispered into his ears and then let go of him. She didn't even notice that he was blushing badly, whereas the others were giggling at the scene that had just happened.

"We have a week until the final examinations, so which means practices are cancelled. So… Girls, we need to help out beloved volleyball boys team to get to the passing mark ya." [name] called out as she walked to grab her bag.

"This is going to be difficult…" the girls whined as they started to discuss how they should tutor the boys.

"Bed head, grab your stuff. We're going to study at my place." [name] called out as she slipped off her sports shoes and grabbed onto her indoor shoes. Kuroo rubbed the back of his neck and quickly grabbed his bag and ran after [name] after waving goodbye to his teammates and the girls.

* * *

"Bed head! Do you want to go to summer training camp or not?!" [name] yelled as she snatched Kuroo's phone out of his hands. Kuroo then pout and turned back to the literature book before him.

"It's so difficult~" he whined, and [name] rolled her eyes.

"If you can remember all the volleyball hand signals, I don't see a reason why you can't memorise all these!" she snapped and kept his phone under her pillow.

"That's different!" he whined again, and [name] sighed and stood up and started to walk away when Kuroo grabbed her by the hand and asked her.

"W-W-Where are you going? I'm sorry, I'll study!"

"I'm going to cook dinner, idiot. Do you want to die from hunger?" she snapped and got out of his grip and proceeded to walk down to the kitchen to cook. Kuroo then pout and sat back down, trying his best to memorise the quotes from the literature book.

* * *

Kuroo had studied a good 30 minutes or so, and he decided to head down to the kitchen as he was getting rather restless. He stood up and stretched, and left [name]'s room after marking the page that he had stopped at.

He walked down the stairs, and was immediately greeted by the aroma of food that was laid out on the dining table. He then walked into the kitchen, and saw [name] placing a bowl of soup right in the middle of all the dishes she had prepared.

"Ah, just in time. Sit down, dinner is ready." She said and quickly went to get two bowls of rice and the cutlery. Kuroo stared in awe as he saw what [name] had cooked.

Tamagoyaki, tonkatsu, sanma shio yaki and kabocha no nimono, along with Kenchinjiru.

"Woah, this is surprising." Kuroo commented as [name] settled down in front of him.

"Hey! I do know how to cook alright." She snapped back.

"Oh? Who do you cook for?" he asked out of curiosity.

"I cook for my family, the volleyball girls back at Seijō and also…" she suddenly trailed off as she remembers that she used to cook for Oikawa as well whenever it was near the examinations as he tends to skip meals to study.

"[name]?" Kuroo called out as he saw [name] suddenly going all quiet. She then shook her head and smile at him.

"Come on, eat!" and she picked out a piece of sanmaa shio yaki for Kuroo and placed it onto his rice bowl.

Kuroo stared at her with worried eyes, but soon started to eat. The moment he ate the food that [name] had placed in his bowl, his eyes light up.

"This is my favourite!" he exclaimed and continued to take more. [name] just laughed as he saw how happy Kuroo was when he realised that she had cooked his favourite dish.

And the duo chatted and laughed about while eating and taking a break from studying.

* * *

It was the final day before the start of the Final Examinations. The volleyball boys and girls decided to study together in the gym, and help one another if they had any problems.

"Ne, Aiyu, do you know how to solve this?" Kyoko asked as she knelt down beside Aiyu and showed her a maths question.

"I can't seem to get the correct answer."

"Eh… I'm not sure though. I haven't learned this part yet." Aiyu replied, and Kyoko pout as she went to ask the others.

"Oi Kenma! Stop playing with your PSP and focus!" Aiyu snapped as she grabbed hold of Kenma's PSP and hid it behind her. Kenma then pout slightly as he turned his attention towards the question before him.

"Ne, where's [name]-senpai?" Yuki asked her boyfriend, Yuki. He shrugged his shoulders and continued with his questions that he was having difficulties with.

"Ne, Yuki! Is this right?" Lev asked as he showed Yuki his English question. Yuki then nodded, indicating that his answers is right, and he cheered and continued on with his other questions.

"Aria, how do you translate this?" Inuoka asked as he showed Aria one of the Japanese idioms.

"Ah this, 見ぬが花. I'll give you a hint, 花 is flower." Aria spoke and all of a sudden Inuoka knows how to do the translation, and he did it right.

"Ne, Naomi. How do you do this?" Yaku asked as he showed Naomi a science question.

"The average volume of hydrochloric acid in the stomach is 60 cm3 and its concentration is 0.222mol/dm3. Calculate the number of moles in acid present in the stomach. Hmm… You need to find the mol of CO first." Naomi spoke and wondered about it for a little while and handed the paper back to Yaku to give him try once more.

"Kuroo, where's [name]?" Kyoko asked, as she was getting a little frustrated because she can't seem to get the right answer for the maths question she had been asking.

"I'm not sure. She didn't answer my calls." Kuroo spoke with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Sorry I'm late!" a voice called out from the entrance of the gym.

"Speak of the devil, why are you so late?" Kyoko yelled with a grin on her face. Then she noticed [name] was carrying an extremely big bag and placed it on the floor.

"What's in the bag?" Yaku called out.

"Well, I figured that you guys might not have taken your lunch, so I made some bentos for you all."

"You're the best!"

"Yay, we get to eat!"

"Come on, help me pass it out." And [name] started to pass out the food.

"Woah! It's karagae bento with tamagoyaki, broccoli, tomato, spinach and Onigiri!" Taketora exclaimed as soon as he opened his.

"Oh my god, this is delicious! You're a great cook, [name]-senpai!"

Kuroo then sat next to [name] on the floor and started to eat his. He hummed in pleasure when he took the first bite of the onigiri. He then looked at [name], who wasn't eating and he realised [name] didn't have a bento box with her.

"[name], aren't you eating? Where's yours?" Kyoko asked as she sat beside Taketora and ate her share.

"I'm not hungry, you guys go ahead!" [name] chirped out and she then held her stomach to ease the growling. She was hungry, but she realised that she ran out of ingredients for the bento, so she decided to sacrifice her share.

"Open your mouth." [name]'s attention soon focused on Kuroo who held her chin gently and titled her head towards him. He had picked up a karagae with his chopstick and tried to pry open [name]'s mouth with the hand that he was holding her chin with.

"What are you doing?"

"Feeding you, duh. You're the kind who always sacrifices yourself. You definitely have not eaten anything, since you're holding your stomach. So open your mouth." Kuroo insisted, and [name] hesitantly opened her mouth and Kuroo placed the piece of karagae into her mouth.

*SNAP*

And both [name] and Kuroo immediately turned when they heard a phone taking a photo. Yaku then smirked as he lowered his phone and continued to eat his share. Kuroo's face turned beet red whereas [name] was unfazed.

* * *

"Ne, [name]. I've been asking around, but none of them can seem to get the answer to this." Kyoko whined as she showed [name] the same maths question that she has been asking everybody.

"Oh? Let me see." [name] then took the paper from Kyoko and scanned through the question. Kyoko then sat beside her and pout while looking at Taketora who was frowning at a certain question for some time already.

"Kyoko?"

"Kyoko!"

"Yoohoo, Kyoko?" [name] called out again and shook her shoulder. Then Kyoko quickly turned and look at [name] who had on a smirk as she had caught Kyoko staring at Taketora.

"Y-Y-Yes?"

"You totally-." And [name] was cut off by a…

*WHAM* Kyoko had smacked [name] in the first with a stack of questions she had on hands.

"Alright, alright. Don't get all shy on me. Sheesh." [name] mumbled as she rubbed her nose and glared at Kuroo as he had snickered at her.

"You're supposed to be substituting this value into z, and then taking x – z to get y. And after you've found y, you're supposed to be substituting it into the equations: 10-2x-3y = 9z + 4y" [name] explained and Kyoko finally understood where she had gone wrong.

* * *

"Come on guys, it's time to wrap up." [name] called out as she stood up and stretched. She then turned to grab her bag when all of a sudden she felt someone pull her into a hug. She then took a look to the back and noticed it was Kuroo. He had on a slight stressful look on his face, and [name] then patted his arm that was wrapped around her waist.

"You'll do fine, bed head. I have faith in you." And then she turned and tiptoed slightly and planted a kiss on his cheek, which he widened his eyes in surprise.

"That's me, giving you the encouragement."

"Yaku! You need to stop taking photos!" [name] snapped as she saw Yaku lowering his phone down.

"Come on, let's go home already. Get a goodnight rest and ace those damn final examinations ya! And bed head, do you mind letting me go?" [name] then snapped at Kuroo, who immediately let go of her.

* * *

"Hey guys, how was the literature examinations?" Kyoko asked as she set down her bag on the chair in the canteen. It was the third day of final examinations, and everybody was looking rather down as they're getting extremely restless.

"Tiring…"

"I nearly fell asleep…"

"Urgh, I just want this week to end already."

"Zzzz…"

"Woah, Kuroo-san must have stayed up late last night!"

"Zzzz…"

"[name]-senpai too?!"

"They're the sleep couple now." Aiyu giggled as Yaku took a photo of them again, as both their heads were on the table, facing each other, and the gap in between them was little. All of a sudden Kuroo lifted his head and raised his finger and mumbled, "We're just best friends…" and then he crashed onto the table again, falling asleep, with his face still facing [name].

" _Bed head! You need to rest already. Gosh!" [name] rubbed her temples and groaned out in desperation as it was close to 2am in the morning._

" _But later on is also the science examinations! And it's first!" Kuroo snapped, and [name] was taken aback as this was the first time Kuroo had snapped at her. He saw how she reacted, and immediately he felt guilty._

" _I-I didn't mean to." He mumbled, and then he felt [name] hug him. She rubbed his back and whispered into his ears._

" _You need to stop stressing up, Kuroo. This isn't like you. Take it easy." And that was the first time [name] had called Kuroo by his name._

" _Alright, since you're going to study till the examinations, then I will too!" [name] exclaimed as she let go of Kuroo. And then she left her room and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee for them as well as snacks._

* * *

"[name], I'm having problems with this!" Kuroo whined as he scratched the back of his head hard. [name] giggled as she got up from her bed with her mathematics notes in her hands and looked over Kuroo's shoulder to take a look at the question.

Kuroo then noticed how close [name]'s face was to his, and he stared at her lips. He then felt [name] placing a hand on his head and turning it so that his head was facing the questions instead.

"Pay attention, bed head." [name] spoke as she continued to read the question.

"Solve the following equation. Bed head, you need to cross multiply first." And Kuroo nodded and tried to do the question on his own once again as [name] sat beside him on the floor, watching how he was doing it.

"Is this correct?" Kuroo then showed [name] his answer sheet.

"Yeap, you got it right!" and [name] ruffled Kuroo's hair.

* * *

"[name], I'm having problems again." Kuroo whined after two hours, and he waited for [name] speak. All of a sudden he felt a weight on his shoulder, and he turned to look. [name] was fast asleep with her head on his shoulder. He smiled a soft smile and picked her up bridal style. He then placed her onto her bed and covered her. He stared at her sleeping face, and wondered how can someone as angelic as her, be hurt so badly. He hesitated for a little while, but eventually planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry for tiring you out…" he whispered.

"Bed… Head… Fighting…" [name] mumbled out in her sleep, and Kuroo stared at her in shock.

"Even in your sleep, you're still worried for me. Silly you…" Kuroo whispered and patted her head.

* * *

"Hey guys! How was the mathematics papers?" Aiyu asked as she saw everybody enter the gym and placed their bags down.

"It was fine…" Kenma answered as he sat down beside Aiyu.

"Thank you for tutoring me, Aiyu. I really appreciate it." He continued, and Aiyu soon blushed.

"We aced it!" the year ones yelled out.

"It was alright, right Yaku, Kai." Kyoko spoke and looked at her "students" who nodded in agreement.

"Ne, what about Kuroo-senpai and oh." Yuki stopped in her sentence as she saw that Kuroo and [name] were both on the floor, leaning against each other's back and sleeping.

"Zzz…"

"This is the second time~"

"Zzzzz…"

"Kuroo must have overnight at [name]'s house again, and made her stay up late."

"This is a sight that I'll never get bored of." Aiyu giggled as she took a photo and sent it to her sister.

* * *

The final examinations were finally over as the students handed in their Physical Education examination papers to the invigilators in-charge **(In case you didn't know, Physical Education in Japan, they have paper tests for it!)**

[name] stretched in her seat and soon stood up, grabbing her bag. She then walked over to where Kuroo was seated, and she kicked his table hard, making him wake up.

"Kuroo, hurry up!" Yaku yelled as he was famished.

Kuroo then sat up and yawned, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes and stood up, grabbing his bag. The trio in year 3 class 5 then left the classroom and headed towards the entrance of Nekoma High to meet up with the rest of the volleyballers.

* * *

"Freedom!" Taketora yelled out as he ran towards the entrance.

"Taketora! Don't run! You might fall!" Aiyu shouted, and sure enough Taketora did fall down and slide towards the entrance on his tummy. He then quickly stood up and dusted his shirt.

"So noisy…" [name] mumbled out as she walked together with Kuroo and Yaku towards where Taketora was standing.

"All here?" Kyoko called out, and everybody nodded.

"So, what should we do? We have the weekends free before the Summer Camp Training." Yaku asked.

"SLEEP!" both Kuroo and [name] yelled at the same time.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot!" Yaku exclaimed, and he took out his phone. He then went to the group chat that had both the girls and boys in it, and he sent some photos.

Kuroo and [name] then took out their phones while the others smirked. Kuroo then blushed at the photos that Yaku had sent, whereas [name] was unfazed and then she kept her phone.

"Yaku!" Kuroo yelled and started to chase after him.


	7. Results Day and A Day Off

"[name]!" their teacher called out. She immediately stood up and head to the front to collect her results. The teacher gave her a satisfied look as he handed her the paper.

"Full marks once again, [name]." and the whole class started to whisper.

"Ne, the moment she transferred here she has been trashing us."

"She's so full of herself."

"Yaku Morisuke." The teacher called out, and Yaku got up from his seat looking extremely nervous. The teacher held out his paper with a disapproving look, and both [name] and Kuroo stared, feeling slightly worried for the outcome.

"97!" the teacher called out, and Yaku grabbed the paper to see whether was it true. Sure enough he had 97 out of 100, and he was jumping about in the classroom. He ran to [name] who then gave him a high-five as he went back to his seat.

"Kuroo Tetsuro." The teacher called out, and Kuroo nervously walked to the front. The teacher gave him a smirk and shook his head, causing Kuroo to tremble with anxiety. He then grabbed hold of the paper and covered his score with his hand and started to walk away. He didn't want to take a look at all. He then handed it to [name] who had a confused look on her face when she grabbed hold of it.

She took a look at the score and frowned slightly. She then turned to Kuroo who had taken his seat, and he had on an extremely disappointed look. She then hit Kuroo hard on the back, causing him to wince and he looked at her. He then realised [name] was smiling and he couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Bed head, you're going to summer training camp with us! 98 out of 100!" she cried out and pulled him into a tight hug, causing everybody in the class except for Yaku to stare in shock.

"Well it's all because I have an extremely clever and beautiful tutor to help me~" he chuckled out and winked at [name]. She immediately let go of the hug and elbowed him in the chest and pout, sitting down. Kuroo just smirked as he sat down.

* * *

"Mukami Sensei, I need you to talk to the years 3s. It's regarding about their future. Even the newly transferred student wants to continue with volleyball as well!"

"Ah… They're planning to stay until the Spring High-Tokyo Representative Playoffs, and if they win, they'll want to continue until the end of Spring High-Japan Representative Playoffs."

"Will they even win?"

"You shouldn't look down on them already. The boys have Kuroo Tetsuro, and the girls have [name]. You'll be surprised." And Mukami Sensei looked out of the windows to where the volleyball teams were gathering.

And somewhere at the entrance, a certain bed head and a certain [name] sneezed at the same time.

"Did you all do well?" Yuki asked as she saw her seniors running to them.

"They definitely did, look at how much [name] is smiling. You hardly see her smile this wide." Her boyfriend commented as he took a look at [name].

"Summer training camp, here I come!" Taketora yelled, and Kyoko smacked him hard on the back of the head. He then turned and glared at her, and the both got into a heated argument.

"You're too loud!"

"You don't know how to enjoy!"

"Say that again?!"

"I said-."

"Gosh, the arguing couple is here again." [name] yelled out and hid behind Kuroo as the duo turned to look at her, with their faces turning beet red.

"Ne, so what should we do?" Yaku asked as he stretched. Then he noticed Naomi staring at him, and then they locked eyes for a little while before both of them turned away blushing.

"It's summer time now, why not we head over to Isshiki Beach for a staycation?" Inuoka asked while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Isshiki Beach?" [name] called out as she stepped out from behind of Kuroo.

"Yeah, it's the nearest and…" Inuoka continued and paled slightly when Kuroo had a frown on his face.

"Kuroo-senpai is definitely thinking about the budget…" Yuki mumbled.

"Yeah, he has always been this calculative…" Taketora whispered.

"If it's Isshiki Beach, I have a few free rooms." [name] spoke up all of a sudden while she looked at her phone.

"Really?! How many?!" the team asked, and she took a step back.

"Well, I have 4 free bed rooms. So we definitely have to share. Each room consists of two single beds which I'm sure the girls are able to share, the boys… I guess it's your choice-." And all of a sudden she was cut off by the team.

"We'll take it!"

"Then that's settled? I'll book now then. Bed head, you don't have to worry about expenses already. Just bring enough for the night and tomorrow, and also for transportation." And she smacked Kuroo hard on the back.

"I was thinking of bringing you out on a date, idiot…" Kuroo said in his mind.

"Alright, we'll meet at the station at 2pm! Go home and pack up guys." [name] called out as she dragged Kuroo down the path that led to their homes by his collar.

* * *

[name] laid on her bed with her eyes wide opened. She had regretted speaking up about the free hotel rooms, and regretted the fact that she had agreed to go to the beach with the teams. The beach. Which means she will be playing in the sand and the water. Which means she needs to wear a swimsuit. Which means her scars will be exposed. Which means she will get judged. Which means she will get even more insecure, and oh since when is Kuroo here. Which means, wait what? Kuroo?!

[name] immediately shot up from her bed, and her head hit hard against Kuroo's head as well, causing the both of them to wince in pain. She sat up on her bed and rubbed her forehead as Kuroo did as well.

"Damn… Your head is hard." Kuroo muttered as he rubbed the red mark on his forehead.

"What are you doing here?" [name] asked as she was done rubbing her forehead.

"Well, I was thinking. Since we are going to the beach, and we will be playing in the sand and water. I thought you might be thinking that you should run away because you need to wear a swimsuit and expose your scars, which I know you're extremely uncomfortable with it and -." And all of a sudden [name] shoved a pillow into his face and muffled his voice.

"This is why you're my best friend." [name] giggled as she removed the pillow.

"Heh, yeah. Your best friend." Kuroo mumbled with sadness, not allowing [name] to hear.

"So, I must bring my swimsuit?" [name] asked as she stood in front of her wardrobe. She turned and look at Kuroo who was lying on her bed on his stomach side with his arms propped up and his head resting on his hands. He nodded to indicate that she needs to.

She sighed and grabbed hold of her black coloured swimsuit and chuck it into her bag. She then grabbed a set or two of comfortable clothes for her to change into later after they were done playing.

And after a good 20 minutes, she was done.

* * *

"The sleeping duo is here!" Aiyu called out and giggled when Kuroo's face turned red. The rest of the teams then snickered as they knew how badly Kuroo is crushing on [name], yet she was so oblivious to it.

"Nene, [name]-senpai, where's your bag?" Aria asked as she realised [name] wasn't carrying anything.

"Oh, it's in Bed Head's bag. Since his bag is rather empty, and he has been insisting to help me carry my stuff, I decided to just stuff it into his bag then." [name] answered as she pointed to Kuroo's bag that was on his back.

"Awe, Kuroo/Kuroo-senpai/Kuroo-san is being a gentleman!" the team cooed, and Kuroo's face went even more red than before as he tried to find words.

"Oh? Aiyu, where's your bag?" [name] asked.

"Oh, my bag? Er…" she trailed off and Kenma spoke up.

"I'm carrying it for her…" he spoke in his usual tone.

"Kenma, you should at least sound happier." Kuroo teased him.

"You should already confe-." And all of a sudden Kuroo covered Kenma's mouth tightly with his hand.

"Alright, alright, let's go. If not, we'll reach at midnight!" [name] chuckled and then they went to buy tickets for the transportation.

* * *

"You should attack here, and then level up this." Kenma spoke as he taught Aiyu how to play the games on his PSP.

"It seems that Kenma has taken a liking to Aiyu after her tutoring. This is the first time I've seen him talking so much to someone, let alone a girl." Yaku commented as he turned towards the side to look at Naomi.

"Aiyu hardly mixes around too, I'm glad she is now." Naomi commented, and yawned.

"I said Yakisoba bread is nicer!"

"No! Yakisoba on its own tastes the best!"

"No! With bread!"

"No! On its own!"

"Kyoko-senpai and Yamamoto-senpai are at it again~" Aria commented and giggled when Inuoka groaned.

"It's always like that. When will they ever stop?" Inuoka asked.

"Woah, this station looks so cool!" Lev cried out as he peeked out of the doors.

"Oi, Lev! Don't do that if not. Yeah… That will happen…" Kai mumbled as he saw Lev quickly moving back when the door was about to shut.

"I SAID WITH BREAD!"

"NO, ON IT'S OWN!"

"Kyoko-senpai, Yamamoto-senpai, please stop already. People are looking at us!" The male Yuki cried out and his girlfriend, Yuki giggled at the side.

"SHUT UP!" they both shouted at the same time.

"Guys, shh…" Shohei spoke up and he immediately pointed at a duo when both Kyoko and Taketora glared at him. Everybody's gaze then set upon on the sleeping duo. [name] had her head leaning on Kuroo's shoulder, whereas Kuroo's head was leaning on her head.

"Now tell me, isn't this a sight to see." Aiyu giggled as she continued to play Kenma's PSP.

"I think I should dedicate an album for them." Yaku snickered as he took a photo and sent it to the group.

* * *

"Aren't you Kuroo Tetsuro from Nekoma High volleyball team? Oh my god, you look more hot in real than in the photos!" the staff at the check-in counter squealed. She then grabbed hold of Kuroo's hand tightly in her own, and she went on and on about how much she adores him and stuff.

Kuroo then turned to look at his teammates and the girls, with a pale look on his face.

"Save me…" He mouthed the words to them, and then Lev and Kai pushed [name] forward. She sighed and walked over to the check-in counter and linked arms with him. She then smiled at the lady at the check-in counter and spoke.

"Can you please not be so touchy with my boyfriend? We want to check in. It's our 4th anniversary."

The lady at the counter immediately removed her hand and apologised a number of times and started to help them check in. [name] still linked her arms with Kuroo as she collected all the room keys from the lady and she smiled again. The lady then hitched a breath as [name] led Kuroo away from the check-counter, and beckoning the teams to follow them into the lobby.

"Nice one, [name]!"

"You two really act like a couple, oh my god."

[name] then unlinked her arm with Kuroo, and he had on a sad look. She then handed out the keys to the groups that have split into. Kuroo with Kenma, Lev and Yaku. Kai with Taketora, Inuoka, Shohei, and Yuki. Whereas the girls were, Kyoko with Yuki and Aiyu. [name] with Aria and Naomi.

[name] then turned and spoke to Kuroo.

"I'm not going to save you anymore." Was all she said and she huffed and walked towards the elevator with the girls. Kuroo then looked at the boys, and they all just shrugged their shoulders at what had just happened.

* * *

"The bed is so comfy!" Naomi exclaimed as she flung herself onto the bed and squealed.

"Ne! I want to share a bed with you Naomi-senpai!" Aria pout, and Naomi moved to the side to allow Aria to jump into the bed with her. [name] shook her head at how happy the duo was as she started to unpack. That's when she realised…

Her bag was still with Kuroo.

With a sigh and a groan, she walked out of the door after telling the duo that she's going to grab her bag from Kuroo. Naomi and Aria then teased her by saying, "have fun~" which she just rolled her eyes at and left the room.

[name] walked past a few doors, and finally arrived at the room that Kuroo and the boys were staying in. She heard laughter and shouts coming from within as she knocked the door. She then realised the door wasn't shut properly, so she pushed it open and walked in.

She spotted her bag on the floor and she bent down to pick it up when all of a sudden something covered her head. She then removed it and realised it was a pair of shorts, and then she looked at the commotion in front of her.

There standing on a bed, were Kuroo and Lev. They were pillow fighting while Kenma sat on the other bed playing his PSP. Kuroo was topless, and clad only in his boxers, whereas Lev was still fully clothed.

"Take that Lev!" and Kuroo whacked Lev hard with the pillow.

"Kuroo… [name] is here…" Kenma called out after he saw [name] in the room, holding a pair of shorts in her hand. Kuroo immediately stopped to look at [name], and he had on an extremely embarrassed look.

[name] then looked at Kuroo's body. Her eyes roam about, from his bed head hairstyle to his chest, and then his well-developed abs, and then to his leg muscles.

"Take that!" and Lev slammed his pillow hard against Kuroo, causing him to fall off from the bed as he wasn't paying attention at all. [name] then walked up to him and helped him. Kuroo's face was still red from having [name] walking in on his childish side.

"I like your body." [name] whispered into his ear, and then she drapes his shorts over his head, turned and grabbed her bag then making her way out of the room, leaving an extremely flustered Kuroo behind.

* * *

[name] flung herself onto the bed and grabbed her phone as Aria had told her to take a look at the group chat.

" **[name] said she likes my body!" – Kuroo**

" **Er… Wrong chat much?" – Yaku**

" **Oh crap!" – Kuroo**

" **HAHAHHA, AWE. KUROO-SENPAI IS HAPPY." – Aiyu**

" **B-But, she never says that about me before." – Kuroo**

" **Kuroo is on cloud nine already." – Kai and Kyoko**

" **Oh damn. Happy Kuroo-senpai means…" – Taketora**

" **Kuro-senpai is going to treat us to dinner then!" – Yuki(Boy)**

" **LUCKY!" – Lev, Aria, Naomi**

" **I want meat!" – Inouka and Shouhei**

"… **.." – Kenma**

" **Kenma-senpai, hurry and decide what you want to eat!" – Yuki**

" **Nice going, bed head. I want meat as well." – [name]**

" **Oh damn, the boss has spoken!" – Aiyu**

" **Heh, Hi…" – Kuroo**

" **Anybody up for the hot springs?" – [name]**

" **Mou, [name] don't ignore me! T_T" – Kuroo**

" **Get changed then. I want to go." – [name]**

" **Do I get to see you naked? *winks*" – Kuroo**

" **SHUT UP." – [name]**

" **Kuroo/Kuroo-senpai is having dirty thoughts about you…" – the others**

" **What to do? He was pillow fighting Lev in the room, wearing only his boxers." – [name]**

" **Mou, I was kidding only [name]!" – Kuroo**

" **And he lost to me!" – Lev**

" **HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH." – everybody else except Kenma and [name]**

" **I want meat too…" - Kenma**

"Come on, let's go to the hot springs!" Naomi called out as she dragged both [name] and Aria out of the room.

* * *

The girls and boys were in the same hot spring rooms, just that they were in different hot springs "tub" if that's what you call it. They were all enjoying the relaxation that was brought upon them with their eyes close. Yuki then opened her eyes and looked around, when she realised [name] wasn't with them.

"Where's [name]-senpai?" she asked, directing the questions to everybody in the hot springs room.

Kuroo then shot his eyes open and looked around, to confirm. Sure enough [name] wasn't around, and he felt that he knew the reason why she doesn't want to join them. He then stood up and the water fell from him.

"No wonder [name]-senpai said she likes his body. Look at those abs!"

"Yuki, stick to your boy."

"Mou, I'm just saying his- I LOVE YOU YUKI-KUN."

"Love you too."

"Kuroo-senpai, where are you going?" Aria called out.

"Gonna go look for [name]." and he stepped out of the hot springs and headed towards the other side.

* * *

[name] was sitting in another hot springs room, alone. Totally alone. It had only one hot spring in it, and she was contented with being alone. She sighed in relaxation and closed her eyes, hoping that her towel wouldn't slip halfway through it.

Suddenly she heard water splashing, and a frown was formed on her face. She opened her eyes and was extremely surprised to see Kuroo just beside her.

"W-What, bed head?!"

"I figured you'll want to be alone."

"Yeah, and I do want to be. So excuse me?"

"Not a chance. I'm going to keep you company." And Kuroo moved closer to [name] as she submerged herself deeper into the water to keep her arms from being exposed.

"You know; it's not like I've never seen them before."

"But still, I feel uncomfortable."

"I'm your best friend. I know how your arms looks like. So don't hide."

"T-That's not the only place…"

"Hey, since it's the two of us only. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure bed head."

"Why are you so afraid? Of falling in love again. Because of Oikawa?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, seeing you rejecting so many confessions, I was just wondering."

"I don't have a reason to love anymore."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid."

"Of?"

"Just… Afraid… I don't know what's love."

"Was Oikawa your first?"

"Yeah…"

"Can I be the reason to love?"

And [name]'s eyes widened as she knew that Kuroo was confessing to her right there and now. She had on a soft smile, but her heart still ached badly from the hurt she had received before. She was still afraid, and how selfish was she then.

"Stop it Tetsuro. I can't love."

"Yes, you can. Love is about taking risks."

"I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to be the reason why you'll cry at night when I'm a total mess. I don't want you to see the pathetic side of me that can't even lover herself. Don't you get it? I'm not worth anything."

"It's alright. I'll wait. I'll prove to you. I'll prove to you that you're all that I want."

And [name] was taken aback at Kuroo's determination.

"Sure you will…" she mumbled to herself, and silenced filled the room for the next 45 minutes.

* * *

" **Guys, I confessed to her." – Kuroo**

" **Oh about time! So are the both of you together now?" – Kai**

" **No… She somehow rejected me." – Kuroo**

" **Dang it. I thought she will accept!" – Taketora**

" **She isn't ready…" – Kenma**

" **Yeah, what Kenma said is true." – Kuroo**

" **It's quite easy to tell, since she's pretty dull and straightforward to the guys who had confessed to her on White Day." – Yuki**

" **But I told her that I'll wait. I'll prove to her." – Kuroo**

" **Our Kuroo cat is growing up!" – Yaku**

" **But what made her so hurt?" – Lev**

" **Oikawa-senpai. Duh." Inuoka and Shohei**

* * *

" **Bed head confessed to me just now." – [name]**

" **Oh my god, like finally!" – Aiyu**

" **So, did you accept?" – Kyoko**

" **Nah. You know me girls." – [name]**

" **It's alright [name]-senpai, don't rush yourself." – Aria**

" **Yeah, don't rush yourself girl! Heal first!" – Naomi**

" **It takes time, [name]-senpai. We're here for you." – Yuki**

* * *

"[name]-senpai! Come join us in the water!" Aria called out as she was running together with the boys and other girls towards the sea. [name] had on a small smile on her face and shook her head as she took a sit under the shades. She was wearing her swimsuit alright, but she had a towel wrapped around her waist to keep her thighs from being exposed, and a towel over her shoulder.

She watched as the girls and boys, including Kuroo were engaged in a water fight in the sea. She smiled softly at the scene before her, but soon stopped as she remembered the amount of scars on her body. Now she thinks she's foolish.

"Hey pretty." [name] heard a voice but chose to ignore.

"Come on, don't ignore us~" but [name] still ignored.

"Hey, we're talking to you!" and all of a sudden [name] was grabbed by the arm and pulled up. She then turned to glare at who it was, and she realised that it was just some delinquents trying to get her attention.

"Why are you alone here?" the first boy asked, and [name] still ignored.

"Why are you all covered up, come on let us see. You seem to have a nice figure." The second boy spoke with a hint of lust in his voice.

"She's too shy guys, let's help her." The third boy said and he made a grab for the towel on [name]'s shoulder. Her eyes immediately opened wide as her arms were exposed, and so was the upper part of her body, except for the part that her swimsuit was covering.

"Woah, are you a sadist? Or do you like pain pleasure?" the second asked as he saw the amount of scars that was on [name]'s area that was just below the collarbone.

"Damn, she likes it rough then…" the first commented and grabbed hold of the towel that was wrapped around [name]'s waist.

"Let go of me!" [name] yelled, but the boys made no sign of letting her go.

"Damn, you have a great figure… But it's all covered in scars." The second commented.

"It's alright, we'll show you love. Come with us, and you'll have a great time." The first spoke.

And the guy who had his hands on [name]'s arms started to pull her towards him.

"L-Let go of me!" [name] stutter-yelled as her body trembled with fear.

"Let go of her already." A voice spoke up from behind them, and they all turned to take a look at who it was.

"And who might you be?" the second asked, glaring at the man before them.

"I'm her boyfriend. Now let her go." That was Kuroo's voice.

"Boyfriend? You'll love a bitch who has scars all over her body? Don't lie kiddo."

"[name], close your eyes." And [name] closed her eyes as she recognised that voice, Yaku.

* * *

"You can open your eyes now, [name]." and [name] slowly opened her eyes after she heard Kuroo's voice. She then looked around and realised the delinquents weren't around anymore, and that she was safe. She then realised the whole volleyball team was surrounding her.

"[name]/[name]-senpai…"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"About what?"

"That you're self-harming?"

And [name] quickly took Kuroo's jacket and draped it over her small body. She then felt an arm slung over her shoulder, and was pulled into a hug. She looked up at who it was, and she realised it was Kuroo, who gave her a reassuring smile.

"May I?" he asked, and [name] nodded.

"[name] here, has been suffering from depression for 11 years now. She has been trying hard to stop self-harming, where I offer her to call me whenever she feels suicidal, which she does. She is an adopted child, and also with the recent relationship with Oikawa, she says her depression has gotten worst, and she can't stop hating herself."

"Damn… [name]…" Kyoko spoke and knelt down beside her and pulling her into a hug.

"Do you know what happened between her and Oikawa-senpai?" Aiyu asked, and Kuroo shook her head. That's when Aiyu thinks that it's best for her to keep quiet about it until [name] talks about it herself.

"It's alright, [name]-senpai, we're all here for you!" Taketora called out.

And all [name] could do was to nod and cry in Kyoko's arms.

* * *

[name] laid in bed, while the others were out. She had decided to skip dinner as she wasn't feeling too well, or rather she was feeling depressed. She took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She then stopped at the contact that she was looking for, and then she pressed call.

The phone rang, once, twice, and somebody picked it up on the other side.

" **Hey, [name]. What's up?"**

"Nothing much. Can we meet up and talk?"

" **Sure, when? I heard you have Summer Training Camp."**

"The third day of it then. It's starting on Monday, so see you on Wednesday."

" **At your camp?"**

"Give me a call when you reach then. Could you do me another favour?"

" **I know what you need. I'll see you."**

* * *

"Ne, do you think [name] will be alright alone upstars?" Naomi asked as she sip on her drink.

"I hope she is; she didn't look too well when we left her." Aria commented as she took a bite of her food.

"Ne, Kuroo-senpai. What are you thinking about?" Aiyu asked as she cut into her food.

"Nothing much…" he mumbled and stared out the window.

"Oi, Kuroo. Eat already." Yaku spoke and kicked him under the table.

"Oh, yeah, sure." He mumbled and started to eat.

The others were staring at him, with worried looks as he looked extremely distracted by it.

 _That one time when Kuroo had left [name] alone when she said she wanted to be alone, was the worst day ever. He had an extremely bad feeling in his guts, and he had rushed to her house immediately after one of his morning practices on the weekend._

 _He had forgotten the keys to her house, and he was too worried to go back to his house to get the keys. He tried calling out to her through the front door, but she didn't respond. Feeling even more worried and anxious, he climbed the tree that was high enough to reach her room's balcony._

 _He then hopped onto the railing of her room's balcony with ease, and immediately went in as he saw that it was opened._

" _[name]?" he called out, but no response. Then he heard the water tap running, and he quickly knocked on the bathroom door._

" _[name], are you alright? Open up!" but no sound came from her._

 _He then kicks the bathroom door until it opened, and he stared in shock at the sight before him. [name], with a blade in one of her hands, and she was sitting beside the bathtub, with a bloodied arm that was covered in new scars. The area below her collarbone was also covered with fresh scars, and she was crying._

 _Kuroo quickly rushed to her side and then he noticed that her lips were extremely pale. He got the blade out of her hands, and quickly grabbed towels, and tied it around her arm and shoulder to stop the bleeding. He then pulled her into a hug and [name], with a shaky voice cried out._

" _It hurts… My heart hurts so much…" she cried out._

" _I'm here. I'm here for you. I always will be." Kuroo whispered into her ear._

" _I'm a monster…" she whispered, and Kuroo shook his head and looked at her._

" _You're not a monster. You're [name]. A beautiful angel." And he planted a kiss on her forehead._

 _And for that whole day, he took care of [name]. He never once let her out of his sight, and he made sure to change her bandages once every 2 hours._

Kuroo immediately stood up and rushed out of the restaurant after he remembered what had happened that day.

"Kuroo/Kuroo-senpai!"

He ran down the corridor and up the stairs instead of waiting for the lift as it was taking a long time to reach the restaurant level.

* * *

He knocked on the door that [name] was staying in, but nobody answered the door. He then realised that it was closed properly, so he went in. He looked around and noticed [name] wasn't around. He then heard the water running, and he immediately panicked.

[name] was in the bathroom, filling up the bathtub and listening to her music with her earphones. She didn't hear Kuroo's shouts and banging on the door as the volume of her music was max. She slowly removed her top and bra, tossing it aside.

She was about to remove her shorts when all of a sudden she felt a cold breeze. She looked up and stared at the door with wide eyes. Kuroo had kicked the door open, and he was looking at [name], without her top and bra on. The duo stared at each other for a little while, and [name]'s earphones slipped out of her ears and fell onto the floor.

"Kuroo! What's wrong?!" and then Kuroo snapped out of his stunned moment, and put a hand up stopping the others from coming closer. [name] too quickly used her arm to cover her breasts and she yelled.

"BED HEAD, GET OUT OF HERE!" and she started to throw things at him.

The whole team was just watching things being thrown out of the bathroom door and hitting Kuroo at every angel. Then the bathroom door was slammed shut, and Kuroo paled slightly.

* * *

"I said I'm sorry! Stop ignoring me please, [name]." Kuroo whined as [name] was trying to eat her breakfast, but was having extreme difficulties as Kuroo latched himself onto her dominant arm. The others were snickering at him as [name] had been ignoring his text messages and whines the whole morning.

"Who knew Kuroo was so desperate to see [name] naked~" both Yaku and Kyoko teased him, and his face went beet red as he tried to find the words to save himself, but he couldn't find his voice then, and sighed leaning back into his chair and letting go of [name]'s arm.

"[name], what time are we checking out?" Yaku asked.

"12 noon." Was her answer and she continued to eat her pancakes.

* * *

"It was a short staycation, but it was relaxing!" Inuoka cried out as he stretched in the train.

"You know, sometimes I don't get it. Are they together or not?" Kyoko spoke and pointed to [name] and Kuroo who were asleep once again. Kuroo was seated beside [name], but his body was bent down to the point that his head was on [name]'s lap, and [name]'s arm was drape over his shoulder.

"To Kuroo-senpai, it may seem like couple. But my sister says that [name]-senpai even does that to the girls at Seijō and even Iwaizumi-senpai. She cares a lot for others, and if they're tired she lets them sleep." Aiyu spoke up as she was handling Kenma's PSP.

"I don't think Kuroo will be too happy to hear about that." Yaku spoke as he snapped a picture of the duo.

* * *

"One more time bed head, and I swear I'll poke your eyeballs out." [name] threatened Kuroo the moment they stood in front of her house. Kuroo then smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as he apologised once again for the incident at the hotel.

"I'm sorry." He apologised.

"I'm looking forward." [name] said all of a sudden and Kuroo looked at her with confusion.

"I'm looking forward to the camp. To the Spring High-Tokyo Representative Playoffs. To the 15. Spring High-Japan Representative Playoffs. To graduation. To the future. With all of you." She finished with a soft smile on her face.

"Alright, time to head in! Rest well bed head, tomorrow is the start of hell." And she gave Kuroo a wink and giggled when his face turned red. She then turns and headed into her house for a rest.

* * *

Kuroo still stood outside of [name]'s gate, shock at what she had said. He then allowed a small smile escape onto his face, and then he turned to walk away, not knowing [name] was watching him from her balcony.

"Thank you…"


	8. STC Day One

"How long more until they arrive, coach!" [name] asked as she was getting pretty restless. She had woken up early in the morning to head over to Nekoma High to help the coach, teacher advisor as well as manager to pack up the training gears for the one-week training, despite the fact that it was Kuroo's drop to actually to do it, but he overslept. Causing [name] having to wake up 3 hours earlier.

"A little while longer. Bear with it [name]." Mukami Sensei patted her shoulder. She definitely had on a frown, and was extremely unhappy because the moment Nekoma High had arrived at the training camp, the others were allowed to rest while SHE, has to wait outside under the hot sun for the other schools to arrive.

"Why didn't you all make bed head wait as well?" she whined.

"Bed head?" Mukami Sensei asked, and faced the coach and manager.

"Kuroo. She's talking about Tetsuro Kuroo." The manager spoke.

"Damn it, he always gets away with all these when I'm around." [name] muttered under her breath.

And a certain bed head who was walking towards the entrance of the training camp happened to sneeze loudly, startling the coach, teacher advisor, manager as well as [name].

"You need to stop talking bad about me, [name]." as he sniffled his nose and settled himself beside her on the steps.

"It is true anyway!" she snapped at him and huffed. Kuroo then just nuzzled his nose to the side of her arm to playfully tease her like he always does.

"Are they together?" the coach asked the manager, which he shook his head indicating no.

"They look good together." The coach commented, and his attention turned towards the road where he saw buses arriving. [name] and Kuroo immediately stood up and got ready to welcome the other schools.

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo!" a guy with round, golden-colored eyes and spiky white-grey hair with black streaks yelled out to Kuroo. [name] then noticed that the guy's hair resembled an owl, and she groaned. She had enough of a cat Kuroo.

[name] quickly got out of the way when she saw the guy walking towards Kuroo and shaking his hand. She then quickly stepped to one side and looked out for the other teams.

"Long time no see Bokuto. Or should I saw owl?" Kuroo teased.

[name] then looked around and she realised something. She then walked over to the coach and asked him, "Ne, coach. Where are the girl teams?"

"Oh? The only girl team here is Nekoma High's. Apparently the other school's girls team rejected the offer as they have other trainings to attend to."

"Ah, three in one!" [name] heard someone shouting, and she turned to find that Hinata was pointing at her and yelling.

"Three… in one?" she mumbled, and Kuroo came up to her while laughing his ass off.

"HAHAHAHAHHA, three in one. Nice nickname shrimp!" he called out and immediately shut up when he saw [name] glaring at him. Then she realised everybody was staring at her, except for the Karasuno team. She then shifted a little uncomfortable under their stares.

"Hey, hey hey! A pleasure to finally meet you, [name]! I'm Bokuto Kotaro. Captain of Fukurōdani Academy volleyball boys team." Bokuto came over and randomly grabbed [name]'s hand into his and shaking it hard. [name] could only stare in surprise.

"Stop annoying her already, Bokuto-san." And a guy with short, messy, black hair and slate-grey eyes with slightly thick eyebrows and an emotionless expression, pulled Bokuto back by his collar. He then made eye contact with [name] and bowed slightly.

"Akaashi Keiji."

"[name]" and [name] bowed back slightly as well.

"[n-n-name]-senpai!" [name] then turned her head and saw Tanaka and Nishinoya staring at her. She swears that she could actually see tails wagging behind them.

"Hey, how have you all been?" she asked with a smile.

"F-F-Fine!" they both stuttered out together, and then [name] looked up and saw Daichi, Suga and Asahi. She then waved at them as they waved at her. She then turned and spotted Hinata pointing to one of the transmission tower and shouting out…

"IS THAT THE SKYTREE?!"

"No… That's just a transmission tower…" [name] mumbled out and Kuroo burst out laughing his ass out.

"Ah sorry. He always asks those kind of questions whenever we come to Tokyo." Daichi explained as Suga hit Hinata on the back of his head. [name] then spotted Tsukki and then she called out to him.

"Oi glasses boy!" and Tsukki turned to glare at [name], which Daichi hit him on the back of his head for his rudeness to a senior.

"I hope to see that your blocking has improved." She smiled, and Tsukki couldn't help but let a blush escape onto his face.

"Oya, Tsukki, do you have a fever?" Yamaguchi asked which Tsukki said no.

"Oya, Tsukki is blushing!" Tanaka then teased Tsukki about it.

[name] then spotted Kageyama looking at her, which she then bowed slightly to acknowledge his presence, and so did he out of respect.

"CAPTAIN!" [name] heard a girl yelling out, and she immediately turned. Everybody soon remained silent as they stared at the girl who had just shouted. [name] then smiled at the girl and walked towards her.

"Yes, Aiyu?" she called out as she walked.

"Mou. I've been calling you on your handphone so many times!" she whined, and [name] chuckled as she followed Aiyu into the camp grounds.

"C-C-C-Captain?!" Bokuto yelled out in surprise, whereas Akaashi seems unfazed by it and simply answered Bokuto.

"She's the captain, ace and middle blocker." And then he dragged Bokuto into the camp grounds following his teammates.

* * *

"URGH. THIS IS WHY I HATE IT WHEN THAT BED HEAD GETS AWAY WITH EVERYTHING." [name] yelled as she set up the volleyball net. She was in an extremely bad mood, and being told to set up the volleyball courts by her coach was definitely not helping her mood at all.

"Hey, hey, hey! Do you need any help, [name]?" and she turned to look at Bokuto who was just sitting at the bench the entire time. She then muttered under her breath as she tied the net tightly, but apparently she lost her footing on the chair as she slipped off and fell down.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of the hard floor, but it never came. But she felt warmth instead. She then opened her eyes and look up, staring into the eyes of Kuroo's.

"Enjoying the view?" Kuroo smirked and winked, which then [name] lifted her hand and…

"oh my god, you're so…"

*WHAM*

"cocky." [name] finished as she hit Kuroo on the top of his head and got out of his arms. She then realised the girls were giggling at the side, and the boys were… laughing their asses out.

"This is what I get when I have to help set up the nets." [name] muttered under her breath, loud enough for Kuroo to hear. Kuroo then chuckled and asked;

"Why didn't you ask me for help? Or that owl head?"

"Apparently you and your boys were missing, and THAT OWL HEAD HAD THE NERVES TO ASK ME IF I NEED HELP, AND WHEN I SAY I NEEDED IT, HE STILL SAT THERE LIKE AS IF HE HAS BEEN HIT BY A HARRY POTTER SPELL THAT MAKE HIM PARALYZED." She yelled the last bit and frowned badly.

And a certain owl head who was sitting at the bench sneezed, and Akaashi said that he deserves it for annoying people so much and not helping at all.

"Three in one is scary…" she heard Hinata commented, and then her frowned went deeper.

"Thanks for the help girls. Come gather!" the coach called out, and everybody gathered.

* * *

"You will all be playing against each other in one set matches, and there will be a penalty for every time you lose. So I hope you lot will be able to improve with this one-week training camp, bond together as a team, improve together as a team, work together, and most importantly, have fun."

"Captains, please step out."

"Draw lots. If you get the same colour as another captain, you'll be playing against them first."

"But… They're girls team though." Bokuto commented, and in the back you can hear Akaashi face palming himself extremely hard as the sound was heard throughout the gymnasium.

Nekoma High, Karasuno High and even his own coach all face palmed at his comment, and then they turned to [name] who had a very displeased look on her face. Kuroo then rubbed her back to soothe the anger that was hidden within her eyes.

"Ah. You're in luck Bokuto. You're going against Nekoma High girls team."

"OH DAMN." Nekoma High boys team called out.

"Alright, get into your places! The penalty for the first round is one lap of diving drills." Which Naomi groaned out as she had been doing that doing practices, and the girls could only snicker at her reaction. They then noticed the aura that their captain was giving off, and they smirked.

"Fukurōdani Academy is going to regret for looking down on us girls." [name] muttered as she brought her team together in a huddle.

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled and then…

"Nekoma… Fight!"

* * *

"Washio, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!" Naomi received the ball nicely, passing it to Aria who was ready to toss. She then saw [name]'s signal and nodded.

[name] got into her position and jumped up, Aria seeing this as the cue, she immediately tossed a quick toss and [name] slam it down, right through the blockers of Fukurōdani Academy. The ball hit the floor hard, leaving a print there.

"That… quick spike…" Bokuto stared in awe.

"Nice kill, captain!"

"Nice toss, Aria." [name] called out and high-fived with her.

"We're in trouble…" Akaashi muttered to himself as he stared at the print on the floor.

* * *

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bokuto-san." Akaashi called out to Bokuto and tossed the ball to him. He jumped up and slammed down, but [name] did a solid block on his spike and killed it.

"Urgh, not again!" Bokuto cried out, and [name] just smirked and went back into her position.

"Ne, they're having a hard time already." Yaku called out as he waited for Karasuno's team to serve the ball.

"Who told that owl to say that comment in the first place." Kuroo said and smirked as he saw how devastated Bokuto looked, and all of a sudden…

*WHAM*

The ball that Kageyama served hit him directly in the face, causing him to fall down.

"Kuroo/Kuroo-senpai!"

"PAY ATTENTION, KUROO!" the coach yelled.

* * *

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bokuto-san…" Akaashi called out again, and he tossed to Bokuto. [name]'s eyes immediately widened as he saw the smirk that Bokuto gave. She then realised that Yuki and Kyoko weren't blocking the sides, and she quickly ran to the side.

*SLAM*

.

.

.

"NICE ONE, [NAME]!"

"Cover, cover!"

[name] had realised that Bokuto was going to do a cross instead of a straight, and she immediately ran to the blind spot that Yuki and Kyoko didn't cover with their block.

"Damn it!" Bokuto cried out again and got back into his position.

"Bokuto-san, maybe you should apologise and tell them to go easy on us…" Akaashi spoke as he got ready to block.

Yuki then tossed the ball up, while Kyoko, Aria and Aiyu were running up. The ball went behind the trio, and causing the blockers from the opponents' team to fake out.

*SLAM*

[name] spiked the ball after jumping from the backline to the frontline, and it landed onto the floor of the opponents' side and left another mark there. The boys from Fukurōdani Academy stared in shock at what just happened as [name] hi-fived with Yuki.

"Nice toss, Yuki!"

"Damn, our captain is a killer!"

And Nekoma High girls team won Fukurōdani Academy in that practice match, with a score of 25-17

"One lap of diving drills!" Akaashi called out, and started to do it.

"She's so good at reading her opponents." Bokuto managed to speak as he did the diving drills.

"One lap of diving drills. Tanaka you're doing double." Daichi called out as he started the diving drills with his teammates.

"Oh? Shrimpy is getting better at the diving drills!" Yaku called out with admiration.

"Shrimpy? Yaku-san, you're not that different from him!" Lev called out, and immediately Yaku kicked him.

* * *

The Nekoma High girls team was playing against the boys' team, and it was a heated match as the score was 25-25, a draw.

"Yamamoto, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"[name]-senpai!" Yuki called out and tossed the ball to [name]. She jumped up and was about to spike it down when she saw Kuroo jumping up and blocking her. She then realised that the ball was already going to the left side of her, and she noticed an opening at the left side. Knowing her right hand isn't able to spike that angle, she raised her left hand, causing Kuroo to widen his eyes in shock.

*SLAM*

The ball ended up hitting the floor in the Nekoma High boys team court. Everybody stood there in shock, while [name] was massaging her left hand as she hardly uses it in volleyball, unless it was just receiving. But never in spiking.

"You. I mean you used. But how. But when. But." Kuroo was in chaos when he saw what happened.

"Captain, that was a powerful left hand spike." Kyoko called out staring in awe.

"How long have you been practicing that?" Naomi asked as she walked up to [name].

"Ah? That's the first time I've used it." [name] spoke without batting an eyelash.

"WHAT?!" they all yelled at her, causing her to cringe.

"She's full of surprises, that young cat." The coach of Nekoma High commented as he saw the other coaches' shock looks at what had just happened.

"I feel so lucky that we're not playing against them yet…" Hinata commented as he shivered from fear.

"Don't get intimidated right now, dumbass." Kageyama hit him on the back, and they two got into an extremely heated argument right in the middle of a match, and clearly you could see Daichi's irritated face.

* * *

"One lap of diving drills…" [name] and Kuroo called out at the same time as the match they had against each other ended up in a draw instead, and time was out.

"Urgh, I hate this." Naomi whined as she did the diving drills.

"Woah, [name]-senpai is already finished…"

"What?!"

Sure enough everybody looked at [name], and she was wiping herself with a towel and taking a short break before going on to the next practice match.

* * *

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kyoko-san!" and Aria tossed the ball to Kyoko who tried to spike but it got blocked by Tsukki. The ball was about to hit the floor when Naomi dived for it, hitting it up.

"Nice one, Naomi!"

"Captain!" Aria called out and tossed a quick toss to [name], and she hit it with all her might, getting past Tsukki's block and hitting the floor extremely hard with a loud bang.

"Ne, don't you think [name]-senpai is a little off today?" Aiyu asked as they got back to their positions.

"A little. She's more serious than usual. Did something happen?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know. It feels like it's her, but it's not her at the same time. She's distracted, big time." Naomi spoke as she did a few squats to get ready for the next ball.

* * *

"Aiyu, nice serve!" Kyoko called out, and Aiyu served the ball, but it hit the net instead, causing them to lose a point. She then paled as she saw everybody staring at her, especially her own captain with a dull look on her face. Something was definitely wrong with her today, usually she will be kind and say 'don't mind'. But this time round she's quiet.

"Don't you think the captain is a bit off today?" Suga whispered to Yamaguchi.

"I noticed that too. She's going all out in every match, I don't think that's like her." He replied as he looked at [name]'s expression. Totally no expression was shown on her face.

But none of them knew, that in [name]'s head, there's so many things going on.

"Daichi, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"[name]-senpai!" Yuki tossed the ball to [name], but she stared at the ball dully as it came to her, which means she reacted too slow, and when she jumped up to spike it, it wasn't her full potential. The ball however did manage to get over to the other side, and score a point.

Everybody on the court stared at [name] in shock.

This was the first time she wasn't paying attention. The first time she nearly missed a spike. The first time that she wasn't herself on court.

The Karasuno team then gathered at the end of the court and Daichi called out…

"One lap of diving drills!" and they started the penalty.

Kuroo was staring at [name] from the bench during the entire match that the girls had against Karasuno, and he himself noticed [name] wasn't being her usual self at all.

* * *

"Good job today everybody! You're on your own for practices from now till dinnertime alright. Please remember to clean up the gym before locking it!" the coach called out and left with the other coaches, managers and teacher advisors.

"Aria-san!" Aria heard someone calling her and she turned to look. She then realised it was the Karasuno's number 10, Hinata. He had on an embarrassed look and then he yelled out.

"Please play 3 on 3 with us!" and Aria looked behind him and noticed that Kageyama, and Tanaka were there bowing as well. Aria then looked around, and all of a sudden she felt a weight on her shoulder and she turned to look.

"Let's do it then. Aiyu and I will team with you, Aria." Kyoko then ruffled Aria's hair and got into position on the court.

* * *

"Anybody seen [name]?" Kuroo called out after he had come back from the washroom.

"Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo! Come help me with some blocks!" Bokuto called out.

"Later, I need to find [name] first. She disappeared." Kuroo spoke as he looked around.

"Wow. Has the cat finally found his fish?" Bokuto teased, and Kuroo's face went beet red.

"S-S-Shut up!"

"We'll help you look for her. Oi four eyes! Come with us too!" Bokuto yelled, and Tsukki glared at him before running along with them; Bokuto, Kuroo, Akaashi.

* * *

[name] was alone in another gym. She had used some white tape and taped a few places on the other side of the court. A lot were going through her mind ever since she used her left hand spike, and she wasn't happy with her results at all. She got out a few volleyballs and tossed to herself and she did her own spiking, trying her best to aim the markings on the floor with her left hand. Some made it, but some didn't and she was getting upset about it.

" _Ah? It didn't hit the spot I wanted it to hit…" [name] thought to herself as she spiked with her left hand against Kuroo._

" _Maybe if I try harder, it will hit the spot…" she thought to herself._

" _Damn, it went the other direction!"_

" _What's wrong with me, urgh."_

" _Alright, I'll try in the match against Karasuno High then."_

" _[name]-senpai!" ah Yuki is tossing to me, I should… Huh? Since when did the ball drop, oh crap._

" _That… Made it into the boys' court… What's wrong with me…"_

" _Maybe you're not cut out to be a volleyball player." – Oikawa_

[name] clenched her hands into fists tightly as she remembered what Oikawa had said to her that one time, and she will never forget about it. Not at all.

She then picked up another ball and tossed it to the front, running up and slamming it down with her left hand.

"Damn it." She cried out as she ran to get another ball.

[name]'s left hand was shaking terribly after she had spiked so many balls. She had made big improvements within that short 20 minutes, but her left hand was at its limits already. She tossed up another ball up in front and used her left hand once more to spike it, but it didn't come out powerful as before.

She then landed and bended her knees slightly, resting her hands on it. She then looked at her left hand which was trembling a little too much, and then she sighed and sat down on the floor, lifting her left hand up to her eyes.

"I didn't know I was that weak." She mumbled to herself.

" _You're not cut out to be a volleyball player."_

"Oh, shut up already." She muttered under her breath and stood up once again, grabbing a ball and doing her own practices.

* * *

"Was there anybody using the 3rd Gymnasium?" Tsukki asked as he stood at the sheltered walkway along with the others; Kuroo, Akaashi and Bokuto.

"No, why?" Kuroo asked and turned to look at Tsukki.

"The lights on, and there's sounds coming in there." He said and pointed.

Sure enough they decided to check it out.

They were greeted by the sounds of volleyball being spikes, and groans as well. And all of a sudden a loud thud. They immediately rushed in, and sure enough they spotted [name] lying flat on her back on the floor, and staring up to the ceiling.

"Hey, hey, hey!" [name] immediately sat up and looked at the entrance. She smiled a soft smile when she spotted Kuroo walking towards her, along with Tsukki, Bokuto and Akaashi.

"Practicing on your own?" Kuroo called out.

"I was just about to wrap up." [name] answered and grabbed hold of Kuroo's hand and he pulled her up. Kuroo then noticed her left hand was trembling slightly, and he couldn't help but to…

"DAMN IT BED HEAD, STOP IT! STOP, STOP, STOP!" [name] cried out as she fell to the ground with Kuroo tickling her nonstop.

"STOP ALREADY. I-I-I CAN'T BREATHE!" she cried out, and Kuroo finally stopped tickling her.

"Hey, hey, hey! Want to help with blocking?" Bokuto called out.

"I… I don't… Mind…" [name] spoke in between breaths.

"Can I ask you something?" and suddenly [name], Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi turned to look at the one who has spoken, who was none other than Tsukki.

"Sure." Both Kuroo and Bokuto answered as [name] sat up on the floor.

"Nekoma High and Fukurōdani Academy are both sometimes considered the powerhouse schools right?"

"Of course!" both Bokuto and Kuroo answered with a displeased look in their faces, and a pout.

"Even if your schools are able to make it into the nationals, it's still going to be difficult to win right?"

"It is, but not impossible!" Bokuto snapped.

"Calm down and listen to him. It's just a what if…" both Akaashi and [name] mumbled out.

"I'm sorry. But I just don't understand how can one be so devoted to volleyball." Tsukki mumbled out.

[name] then stood up and stood beside Kuroo. Kuroo then placed his arm on her head and rested it there, making her pout. But she then turned her attention to Tsukki and asked him.

"Ne, four glasses. Is volleyball fun?"

"Not really…"

"That's because you suck." Bokuto continued, and Tsukki looked offended.

"You suck too, Bokuto." [name] commented, and then she turned to Tsukki and said,

"You play the same position as bed head and I, right? Middle blocker."

"Yeah."

"One day, you'll definitely be devoted to volleyball."

"Why do you say so?"

"That feeling you get when you totally shut out an opponent's spike, and also that feeling you get when you spike past all the blockers and score a point. That feeling, my dear, will make you addicted to volleyball."

"Ah…" Tsukki stood there trying to absorb everything that [name] had said when all of a sudden.

"Alright, we answered your question. So help us with some blocking~" Bokuto called out as he appeared behind Tsukki, with an arm behind his back.

"Come on!" Kuroo too, pushed Tsukki towards the court.

* * *

"Your block is weak, Tsukishima! Your arms are so frail that I'm afraid that I'll break them. You need to stop the ball like you mean it!" Bokuto spoke as he managed to spike through Tsukki's block.

"I've just started to gain muscles, I'm still a growing boy!" Tsukki managed to speak out through his agitation for the owl head, and that comment agitated Bokuto.

"How about two blockers this time round." And Kuroo stepped beside Tsukki.

"We don't mind." [name] called out, but was ignored instead.

"You should put your arms in front of you when you block instead of over your head. In front of you. AND THEN YOU CAN MAKE THIS ANNOYING OWL SHUT UP." Kuroo yelled and pointed at Bokuto.

"Just try it!" Bokuto stuck his tongue out and pulled his eye bag down.

" _Ah… Nobody is paying attention to me… I should probably leave before I get really outcast here… Why did I even agree to help with blocking when I'm not even doing anything here. I think I'll just head to the showers and sleep already…" [name] thought to herself as she grabbed onto her shoes and started to walk out of the gym until…_

"[name]-senpai, where are you going?" Akaashi called out.

"I think I'll turn in already. Have fun." And then she left the gym.

"What's up with her?" Bokuto asked.

"In case you all didn't know; you three idiots have been ignoring her the entire time." Akaashi called out as he bounced the volleyball.

"Ah, crap…" Kuroo mumbled, but he knew Bokuto isn't going to let him find [name] at all.

* * *

[name] was walking down the sheltered walkway towards the sleeping area where the girls were designated to. She had just finished showering, and boy was she feeling extremely refresh. Her body was aching from the amount of practice matches they had done today, 26 in total with 20 wins and 6 loses. And also that one hour of left spiking she had done on her own.

" _Hey, could you teach me some blocking techniques?" [name] then turned and was surprised to see the famous setter, Oikawa Toru asking her for help. Oikawa then blushed slightly as he saw [name] staring at him with a cute smile on her face._

" _Sure." [name] answered with a smile, causing Oikawa to blush more._

* * *

" _You're really good, [name]-chan!" Oikawa called out as they were cleaning up the gym together with the rest of the girls and boys in the volleyball teams._

" _Not really." [name] spoke with a little sadness in her voice._

" _Mou, what's wrong, [name]-chan?" Oikawa asked as he grabbed hold of her arm._

" _Ah, it's nothing. Let's hurry up and clean up." [name] spoke as she tried to get out of his grasp._

" _Ne, [name]-chan. I've been wanting to ask you though. I know we haven't really talked much in school ever since year one, but I figured that before we get into year 3, I want to tell you that I like you a lot, and I want to be there for you. Whenever I see your arms, I feel heartache and I want to protect you from any harm that may come." Oikawa spoke as he grabbed hold of [name]'s face with both his hands, and pulled her face in for a kiss on the lips._

* * *

 _Things changed ever since they moved on to year 3. Oikawa and [name] had got together at near the end of year 2, and [name] sure was happy. Sure she got beaten up most of the time by her boyfriend's crazy fangirls, but she still loves him. Waiting for him every day for his practice to end before walking home together. Going out on short walks in the night at the nearby park and going out for dates. The surprises that he gives her, she felt love from it, and she repaid him back with double the amount of love he had given her._

 _But things changed ever since that one time [name] found out that Oikawa had been seeing other girls. She never confronted him about it, but she knew Oikawa had been kissing other girls behind her back. She only talked to Ai and Iwaizumi about it, knowing that those two will keep their mouth zipped. But she didn't know that Iwaizumi cared so much for her that he went to beat Oikawa up. At first she thought it was the normal routine that Oikawa pissed him off or something, but this time round it was different._

 _Texting got less, calls got less. But meet ups were frequent, and [name] was happy about it. She thought that Oikawa had decided to just focus on her, and she was happy. Happy to the point that she didn't feel depressed for a whole week. But then she found out that Oikawa hated her instead of loving her. He will vent his anger on her whenever Iwaizumi was angry at him, or if he lost a match to another school. He will hurl profanities at her, shout at her, hurt her. Why does [name] think that Oikawa hates her?_

 _She found out soon when he had been treating her badly. She realised he has been going out with another girl on dates, holding her hands, laughing with her, giving her gifts. And it was a girl from year 2 class 1. The difference was huge between the treatment._

 _And [name] thought that Oikawa's love, was the real deal. Heck was she wrong._

 _And now she's in a state of having no reason to love. Feeling afraid. Feeling betrayed._

[name] wasn't looking at where she was going when all of a sudden someone bumped into her, causing her to fall down.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I was chasing after Hinata and Kageyama." And [name] opened her eyes and looked up. She then noticed it was Sugawara from Karasuno, and he held out his hand for her. She had on a soft smile but didn't accept his hand and stood up on her own.

"It's alright." She mumbled and proceeded to walk down the sheltered walkway once again.

"You changed a lot, [name]…" Suga whispered while he stared at the retreating figure of [name].

* * *

"Ne, where's [name]-senpai? I haven't seen her after the practice matches." Aiyu asked as she stuffed herself with the curry rice before her.

"I bumped into her just now when I was leaving the bedroom, she said she wasn't hungry and wanted to sleep." Kyoko spoke as she stood up to get her share of the food.

"Ah… She seems pretty distracted; don't you think so?" Naomi asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"Do you think she's going to be alright?" Yuki asked as she looked around the room.

The girls were seated at one side while the other boys including the other schools were seated at the other side of the room, creating an extreme loud ruckus.

"She should be. But I'm still shock at the face that she's distracted during a match today." Aria commented as she took a bite of her food.

"Mou, let's just see how it goes tomorrow. If she's the same then we'll talk to her. [name] doesn't like it when we force her to talk about what's on her mind." Kyoko commented as she sat back down with her plate of food.

And a certain [name] sneezed a few times in her sleep.


	9. STC Day Two

"Someone, wake [name] and Kyoko up!"

"Come on senpais, it's morning already! Practice is starting soon!" Aiyu called out.

"Let me sleep a while longer…" Kyoko groaned out and Aiyu giggled as she walked towards the window and pulled open the curtains, allowing the sunlight to hit both [name] and Kyoko at the same time.

"URGH!"

* * *

"[name], you didn't get enough sleep? Your face looks quite pale." the manager asked as he walked past the table that the girls were seated at for breakfast.

"More like I skipped dinner last night. Urgh…" she groaned out as she put her head on the table.

"I don't see any of the other teams other than Karasuno High though…" Yuki called out as she sipped on her hot cup of tea.

"Hey, Karasuno's Mr. Refreshing is walking towards us." Naomi whispered to the girls as [name] lifted her head up. The girls then giggled as they found him quite the gentleman during the practices at night.

"Good morning." He greeted the girls with a smile, and the girls couldn't help but giggle at his smile except for [name], who was too hungry to even show any expression on her face. Suga then walked over towards [name], and patted her shoulder. [name] then looked up to him with eyes that could barely open, but he still smiled at her.

"God… You're just like my friend back in middle school, all smiles. Urgh…" [name] groaned out as she set her head on the table once again to enjoy the cool surface. Then all of a sudden her eyes widened and she sat up straight, almost hitting Suga's head. She then stared at him with wide opened eyes and then her mouth was hanging open…

.

.

.

"S-S-S-Sugar?!" she managed to stutter out, and Karasuno's team and the girls snickered at the nickname that [name] had called out as Suga's face went beet red.

"It's been a while, queen." He said and smiled.

"Queen?!" the girls called out.

"Back in middle school, the volleyball teams call her the queen of the courts because of her ability to get through any blocker and also her ability to block almost all of the spikes." Suga explained.

"Damn, captain. You're a big hit back in middle school." Kyoko spoke as she nudged [name] by the side.

"It's like calling Kageyama the king of the courts, just that hers is positive whereas Kageyama's is negative." Hinata whispered to Tanaka, and then Kageyama grabbed Hinata by the collar and shouted at him.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"Kageyama… You should put him down… Daichi is going to get angry…" Asahi managed to whisper out quietly so that Daichi wouldn't hear, and Kageyama threw Hinata back into his seat and sat down with a frown on his face.

"Hey, hey hey! Good morning!" and Bokuto hopped into the cafeteria with a loud voice, soon followed by the rest of his teammates.

"You're too loud in the morning, Bokuto-san." Akaashi commented.

"Not to mention the loudness of his snoring last night." One of his teammates complained as he yawned.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't expose me… There are girls here…" Bokuto whispered the last part, and looked towards Nekoma High's girls team as they giggled at his cuteness, except for [name].

"We'll talk later alright? After practice matches." Suga said, and [name] just nodded as he turned and walked back to where Karasuno High was seated at.

"Good morning…" and everybody turned to the entrance once again and finally saw Nekoma High boys team walking into the cafeteria. Kuroo then made his way to [name] and sat beside her, nuzzling his nose into her neck and sighing. [name] smiled a soft smile and ruffled his hair slightly, and asked;

"Rough night?" which he nodded into her neck.

"Awe, the both of you look so cute together." Aiyu commented as she stared at them.

"Well, you and Kenma look cute together as well." Kyoko commented, as Kenma took a seat beside Aiyu, and then both of their faces turned beet red.

"How are you feeling?" Kuroo mumbled into [name]'s neck just for her to hear.

"I'm just hungry." She whispered.

"What happened last night?"

"I just went to sleep, that's all."

"Talk to me."

"Later then."

"Promise?

"Promise."

"Alright, breakfast is served! Come on, move your morning butts and get your breakfast before they get cold!" the coach called out and everybody made a run for the food except for [name]. She was too tired, too hungry to even move. She also feels that she's too tired to even stand up or eat. She then groaned again as her stomach growled and she placed her head on the table.

"Hey, hey, hey! [name]! You ran off last night, so you're going to help me with blocking today, right? Right?" he asked as he moved his head to from side to side of [name]'s head every time he said 'right'.

"Will it be alright if I joined you guys?" [name] and Bokuto looked up and saw Suga standing there.

"Of course! We can play 3 on 3 then! Tsukishima don't think you can run away!" Bokuto yelled and pointed at Tsukki, who just flinched as he was just walking past the table with his plate of food.

"Ne, don't bully four eyes will you." [name] spoke as she tried to push Bokuto's arm down, which she eventually failed as she was too hungry and tired. Then she saw someone placing a plate of food before her, and that someone soon settled himself/herself beside her. She turned to look and smiled softly at Kuroo who had done that for her.

"Eat up. You didn't eat last night. I saw you looked too tired and hungry, so I decided to get it for you. Do you want drinks? Coffee? Tea?" he asked and [name] just shook her head and said that it's fine and started to eat.

* * *

"Today we'll play a different practice match. You'll choose your own teammates. There will be two teams with two girls, whereas another two teams with just one girl each. The captains are, Kuroo Tetsuro, Bokuto Kotaro, Sawamura Daichi and [name]. Please step out and choose your team members."

The four captains stepped out and did a draw on who is going to pick first. The order was Kuroo, [name], Bokuto and then Kyoko.

"Kenma." Kuroo called out.

"Suga." [name] called out and hi fived when Suga came to join her.

Akaashi then made his way towards Bokuto without even being called as he saw Bokuto giving him the look of, 'don't abandon me please'.

"Yamamoto." Daichi called out, and Yamamoto jumped up in joy and ran towards Daichi's side, causing him to pale slightly.

"Glasses boy."

"Yaku."

"The girls' libero." Bokuto called out and Naomi stood up with a slight displeased look on her face. She then went up to Bokuto and said straight into his face, "My name is Naomi. Sakura Naomi! It isn't called 'the girls' libero'." And then she pouts. [name] could only ruffle her hair as she walked past her.

"Nekoma High's boy libero."

"Aiyu."

"That number 3." [name] pointed at Fukurōdani Academy's number 3.

"The girl Yuki."

"Asahi."

And after a good 10 minutes, the team was finally done.

 **Tetsuro Kuroo**

 _Kenma, Tsukishima, Komi, Aiyu, Aria_

 **Bokuto Kotaro**

 _Akaashi, Naomi, Yuki, Tanaka, Washio_

 **Sawamura Daichi**

 _Nishinoya, Yamamoto, Kyoko, Onaga, Kageyama_

 **[name]**

 _Suga, Yaku, Asahi, Hinata, Sarukui_

"The rest of you who weren't selected, you're going to play a practice match as well. Split into teams!" the coach called out as the captains went to draw lots.

"Mou. We're going against [name]'s group first." Kyoko whined as she saw the colour that Daichi had drawn.

"Positions!" the coach called out.

"Let's huddle together." Suga spoke up and [name] just stared at him with a weird look which he felt embarrassed as he thinks that [name] was thinking that he's crazy.

"Come on, huddle!" [name] called out and the boys huddled with her.

"Ne, captain. Motivational speech." Yaku teased [name], and she just rolled her eyes and…

"I have faith in you all. As long as the ball doesn't drop, we play on!"

"Yeah!"

"Fight!"

* * *

"Sarukui, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kageyama!" Kyoko called out, and Kageyama tossed the ball to her, a little too fast…

.

.

.

"I'm so sorry! I tossed it too quickly!" Kageyama apologised and bowed to Kyoko who was flustered and told him that it was alright, they could try again. Whereas [name]'s team stared in… laughter… that was about to erupt from their throats but they tried their best to hold it in.

"Sarukui, one more!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kageyama!" and Kageyama tossed to Kyoko once again, and she knew she is able to hit it this time round, and she did. But she got blocked by [name] who managed to run up in time and block her.

"Nice one-touch!" Suga called out and positioned himself to toss. He looked around and spotted Hinata, Asahi and [name] getting into position. He then tossed the ball to Asahi…

*SLAM*

But he was blocked by Yamamoto and Kageyama. The ball was about to hit the floor when Yaku managed to dive for it, hitting it up.

"Nice one, Yaku!" [name] called out and then…

"Suga!" she called out and Suga tossed to her a little too far… that it ended up flying out of the court. She landed and immediately ran after the ball, stretching her arm out and…

.

.

.

"NICE SAVE!" Yaku called out.

*BAM*

[name] had hit the wall hard against her back. She had slide across the floor then.

"Connect, connect! Don't let her effort go to waste!" and Suga received the ball that [name] had saved, and tossed it to Hinata who did a quick spike, but was blocked by Kageyama with a smirk. [name] quickly got up and ran back to the court after seeing that Hinata was blocked. Yaku managed to save the ball in time and passed it to Suga

Suga then tossed it to Asahi, a high toss that is slightly away from the net…

*SLAM*

And the ball hit the court of the opponents'.

* * *

"10 running laps…" Daichi called out from outside the gym, and his team started to run.

[name] and her team were taking a break while waiting for the next team to be ready. She rotated her arms slightly as her back was hurting from the crash impact from before. She then felt someone's hands on her shoulder and she looked up and smiled softly.

"I saw you crashing. You alright?" Kuroo asked with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah… A little ache won't hurt me." She said with a sad smile and did some stretches while Kuroo helped her by pushing her back downwards.

"Queen, since when do you have a boyfriend?" Suga called out as he did some stretches.

"Boyfriend?" [name] stared at him with a confusion, and he pointed to Kuroo.

"H-He's not my boyfriend!" [name] snapped at him, causing him to flinch.

"I'm her best friend." Kuroo answered, with a sad smile on his face that Suga noticed.

* * *

"Aiyu, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Suga!" [name] called out and Suga tossed her a perfect toss. She then saw Kuroo jumping up and blocking her, she shifted her gaze to the left but his hands didn't spread. She then hit a cross and by the time Kuroo spread his arms, the ball already hit the floor although Aria dived for it.

"Yay." [name] called out and stuck her tongue out at Kuroo who just 'tch' her in response with a blush on his cheeks which Kenma then teased him about.

"Oya? Kuroo has a fever…"

"I DO NOT!"

"Asahi, nice serve!"

But the serve hit [name] on the back of her head, hard.

"[name]!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH" Kuroo burst out laughing, and [name] immediately glared at him. The positions then rotated and it was [name]'s turn to serve, since Kuroo said he felt bad and decided to let her start the serve. She was in the backline, and so was Kuroo.

"I-I'm sorry about that just now!" Asahi apologised and bowed to [name] which she just waved off with a smile and said, "Don't mind." But something about that 'don't mind' made Suga smirk and Kuroo pale.

* * *

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] did a jump serve. Aiming for Kuroo, and Kuroo… Didn't manage to receive it properly. She then smirked as Kuroo pouted at what had just happened, and she served again.

"Nice serve!"

"Damn!" Kuroo cried out as the ball was aimed at him again. He then sighed with a smile on his face, hands on his hips and yelled out to [name].

"I'm sorry, my princess. So please stop bullying me. I'll buy you ice-cream."

"HE CALLED HER PRINCESS."

"OH GOD, THIS IS SO CUTE."

"PRINCESS!"

"AWE."

"SHUT UP ALREADY." The coaches yelled as they saw the teams getting distracted.

[name] just stuck her tongue out at Kuroo and grabbed the ball that Suga tossed for her to serve, not realising that Kuroo wasn't paying attention to her serving, but rather he was thinking about how cute she was when she did that…

"[name], nice serve!"

.

.

.

*WHAM*

"KUROO/KUROO-SENPAI"

"OH MY GOD, BED HEAD!" and the other team quickly rushed to the other side of the court.

"I-I'm okay." He managed to call out as he sat up.

"KUROO TETSURO, PAY ATTENTION ALREADY!" his coach yelled out with an angry mark on his forehead.

* * *

"Good practices today! I hope you all have learned something from each other during today's training. Tomorrow we'll be doing the normal ones, get enough rest today! Practice if you want to, but remember to clean up the gym and take your dinner. ESPECIALLY YOU, [NAME]!" Mukami sensei yelled and pointed at [name] who just quickly looked to the other side and whistled.

[name] sighed as soon as the coaches, teacher advisors and managers were out of sight. She was sitting on the bench with a towel draped over her head with her eyes closed, trying to relax from all the crashes she had suffered from during today's training.

She had crashed into the benches during the match against Bokuto's team. The wall, during the match against Daichi's team and also Kuroo's team. And she suffered many back hits from Asahi's missed serves.

"Hey, hey, hey!" and [name] groaned inwardly. She then felt her towel being removed and she opened her eyes to see that Bokuto was standing right in front of her. She the noticed Akaashi was holding onto Tsukki's sleeve to prevent him from running away, and then she saw Suga seated next to her. But no sign of Kuroo.

"Let's practice!" Bokuto called out as he went to grab his gears along with the others to move to the next gymnasium as it was rather crowded in the current gymnasium that they were in.

[name] sighed and stretched as she stood up. She then grabbed hold of her back and all of a sudden she felt someone just behind her and she immediately turned. What greeted her was a dorky looking Kuroo, with an ice-cream in his hand.

"Really…" she mumbled and grabbed the ice-cream and ate it in 6 bites.

"Here, later after your shower get the girls to help you with the bruises." He said as he placed a small bottle of ointment into her hand.

"Hey, hey, hey! Let's go practice! Four eyes, don't run!" Bokuto called out, and Akaashi managed to grab Tsukki by his arm and dragged him out of the door towards the other gymnasium.

* * *

"Don't you think it's a little unfair?" Akaashi called out.

"It's alright, let's do things that we can't do in practices!" Kuroo called out.

Sure enough, Akaashi was in the same team as Kuroo and Tsukki. Whereas [name] was in the same group as Bokuto as well as Suga… It was the tall versus the taller.

[name] sighed as she walked to take her position as the middle blocker. She didn't have on a happy look as her body was still aching pretty badly from all the crashes, but she dealt with it without any complaints as Suga tossed a ball to Bokuto to start the practice.

"Nice block…" Akaashi called out as he tossed the ball up to Kuroo. [name] then jumped up and blocked Kuroo's spike, killing it. Wincing in pain as she landed as her body wasn't in shape to take the same impacts as before.

"Nice block!" Bokuto and Suga called out as they both smacked her hard on the back, causing her to wince in pain once again. She sighed as she got into a spiking position as Suga tossed a ball to her, and she spiked it, getting through Kuroo's solid block by pulling on a clean wipe on him.

"Mou, stop wiping me already [name]!" Kuroo cried out and pout, which [name] just giggled at.

"That sounds wrong…" Akaashi commented.

"I didn't know Kuroo-san was into that kind of thing…" Tsukki teased.

"Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo you need to get a room!" Bokuto cried out.

And all Suga could do was to laugh softly as he saw how red Kuroo's face has gotten within that few seconds.

* * *

"Hey, can we join?" a voice came from the entrance, and everybody turned to look.

"Oya?" Akaashi called out.

"Oya, Oya?" Bokuto called out as well.

"Oya, Oya, Oya?" Kuroo joined in.

"Oya, Oya, Oya, Oya?" Suga decided to join in the fun, whereas [name] and Tsukki just stared. There standing at the entrance was Asahi and Daichi.

[name] then quickly ran over to Asahi and dragged him to the side of the court where her team was and shouted, "Asahi-san will be in my team!" which caused Asahi to pale slightly.

"Mou, that isn't fair [name]." Kuroo called out and pout.

"IF THIS IS UNFAIR, THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL YOU GETTING ALL THE TALL PLAYERS INTO ONE TEAM?!" both Suga and [name] yelled at the same time, causing Kuroo to flinch and everybody else to burst out laughing.

* * *

"[name]~" Suga called out and tossed the ball to [name] who spiked it down, getting through Kuroo and Daichi's block.

"Nice kill!" Asahi called out.

"I will never want to step onto the bad side of her, if I did I'll probably be spiked to death, or maybe worst strangled. Or beaten, I don't know, she seems so scary-." Asahi was talking to himself as he saw how much power [name] had in her, and was suddenly cut off by…

"THERE IT IS, THE NEGATIVE GOATEE." Suga called out, causing everybody to look at Asahi.

"Negative goatee, negative goatee, go away!" Suga called out as he did a weird dance and hit the side of Asahi hard with his hand.

"GAH!" Asahi cried out, and everybody could only snicker at what happened.

"Oya? Daichi, did you bring a friend?" Kuroo asked as he looked at the entrance.

"Ah? Hinata? Kageyama? I thought you were playing a practice match against Tanaka and the others?" Daichi called out.

"Erm… After Tanaka hit the face of Aiyu 4 times… The ended up bailing on us, stating that if Tanaka can't aim properly, they won't play with us." Hinata mumbled out, and silenced filled the gym…

.

.

.

"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA." Everybody burst out laughing, yes including Akaashi.

"Tanaka has done it this time." Suga cried out as he wiped away a tear.

"My poor Aiyu, she's going to start complaining to me later about how Tanaka had given her free blush make-up." [name] cried out as she rolled on the floor laughing.

"What about Kenma?" Kuroo asked after he finished laughing.

"I asked him to give me some tosses, but he ran away after the 5th one…" he mumbled.

"It's a miracle that Kenma gave you 5 tosses already." Kuroo chuckled out.

* * *

"HINATA YOU DUMBASS!" Kageyama cried out as Hinata missed the toss that Kageyama had tossed.

[name] sighed and pulled Kageyama by the collar and beckoned the others to continue with the match as she pulled Kageyama to the side, and made him sit on the bench with her.

"Ne, Kageyama. Do you know the role of a setter?" she asked.

"I do. Setters are to orchestrate the offence. Run the team's offense and build up offensive scoring opportunities for the team. Right?" Kageyama answered, and [name] smiled softly.

"But different spikers need different tosses. Don't you think so?" [name] spoke as she watched the match before them, knowing that Kageyama had a confused look on his face.

"Your toss only matches Hinata. I noticed that. But Hinata isn't the only one who can score you know. But sometimes, you need to take into consideration with the tempo that Hinata is running at." [name] commented.

"Tempo?" Kageyama repeated.

"Alright, come with me." And she walked back to the court and made Kageyama stand at the side for him to see clearly. She then asked everybody else to stand to the side except for Suga. She then got into position onto the court and called out to Suga.

"Suga, tempo spiking!" which Suga nodded, and then he signalled for [name] to start running. She started to run at a slow pace, and Suga tossed the ball. She jumped up and spiked down the ball, which then she hi-fived with Suga.

"Looks like it hasn't rusted!" they both called out.

"That is the first tempo." [name] called out. She then got into position once more and ran a little faster than the first time, and spiked the ball that Suga had tossed to her when she started to run.

"Second tempo."

* * *

"Alright, let's wrap up and head for dinner!" Bokuto called out after they had played a few matches within the two hours, after [name] and Suga had thought Hinata and Kageyama about the tempo. [name] stretched and winced as she knew that bruises were forming on her back already. She then grabbed hold of her bottle and towel, and proceeded to walk out of the gym with Kuroo by her side.

"Ne, since when are you so close to that Karasuno setter? The one that always smiles." Kuroo asked, a hint of jealousy was present in his voice.

"Ah? We attend the same middle school." [name] answered and took a sip from her bottle.

"Ah…" Kuroo managed to get out, and all of a sudden he was dragged by the arm moving backwards. [name] then turned to take a look, and she saw the whole group of boys that she was practicing with a few minutes ago were dragging him off to somewhere else, waving at her.

She shrugged her shoulders and decided to head for dinner on her own then.

* * *

"Seconds please!"

"Woah, [name]-senpai is eating a lot today."

"Like finally."

"Sometimes when I see that she doesn't eat, I wonder where did all the energy come from!"

"Hey, I'm here alright!" [name] called out and pout as she ate her second plate of rice.

"Ne, where are Kuroo-senpai and the others though? I see some of them are missing."

"Probably still practicing."

"[name]?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat.

* * *

"Ne, Kuroo-san. I heard from Kenma that you got rejected by [name]." Suga spoke as he ate into the pork bun that Daichi, Kuroo and Bokuto had bought for them, before leaving the duo alone for their talk that Suga said he wanted to have before he goes berserk about it.

"W-W-What? That Kenma…" he muttered as he ate his pork bun.

"Don't worry. You're a nice guy." Suga commented as he munched onto his food.

"But… What's the point?" Kuroo sighed out.

"I don't know if you know about the relationship with Oikawa. But what I heard from rumours was that Oikawa abused her." Suga spoke and blew on his food as it was piping hot.

"I figured that out when she was so afraid when I had her trapped in between me and a wall. I was stupid then. Urgh." Kuroo groaned as he threw his head back.

"You know, [name] talks to me a lot about you. I mean, today during the breaks, when you were busy doing your penalties." Suga spoke and then turned to see that Kuroo was staring at him with a surprised look.

"She says that you're a nice guy. You care for her. You're always there for her. You know when she's down, what she needs. She doesn't mind opening up to you. She says she likes you." Suga spoke, and Kuroo's face couldn't help but form a soft smile.

"But she's afraid. You know she does self-harm right? Ever since I know her in middle school, I know she suffered from depression. She has always isolated herself from everybody, even in volleyball. On the court she bonds with them, but off court she doesn't. So I find it a miracle that Aiyu and the others are able to talk to her freely off the court. That's an improvement." Suga continued.

"Doesn't matter. I'll still wait…" Kuroo mumbled out.

"I know you will." Suga said with a soft smile on his face.

* * *

"That hurts!" [name] cried out as Aria was sitting on her bottom, rubbing her back with the ointment that Kuroo had given her earlier in the afternoon.

"You will feel better soon!" Aria giggled as she put in more force, causing [name] to cry out in pain.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Kyoko went to open it.

"Ah, Kuroo. Looking for [name]?"

"Yeah, is she here?"

"Give her a minute, she's getting her back rubbed."

"Ah, alright."

"I'm done!" [name] called out as she pulled her shirt down and stood up with the help of Aria. She then thanked Aria and walked out of the room to meet up with Kuroo. They then started to walk along the sheltered walkway.

"So, what happened last night?"

"I just remembered what Oikawa said to me that one time."

"What was it?"

"You're not cut out to be a volleyball player."

And Kuroo stopped in his tracks as he pulled [name] into a tight hug. He nuzzled his nose into her bed of hair and sighed.

"You're a volleyball player. Don't let what he said affect you. You're the best, remember that. You're number one in my eyes, and I'm your number one fan." He mumbled into her hair. And all [name] could do was to nod in his chest.

[name] then shivered from the cold and they both realised that it was raining, and it was extremely cold outside. Kuroo then removed his jacket, and made [name] wear it. He then ruffled her head and brought her back to the room where the girls were sleeping in, and bid her goodnight.

* * *

[name] laid in her mattress, still wearing Kuroo's jacket. The scent of him seems to have calmed her down as she smiled a soft smile and drifted off to a peaceful slumber, while the other girls were just giggling at her as they found her cute.

Kuroo sat by the window in the room that he was staying in with the other boys, including the other school boys. He had on a soft smile as he remembered how open [name] was to him just now, and he couldn't help but feel happy about it.

"Kuroo looks so creepy…"

"He's smiling to himself, oh god…"

"He's worse than Kageyama…"

"What?!"

"He probably did something to [name]…"

"What a pervert…"

"I CAN HEAR YOU GUYS!"


	10. STC Day Three

"Kuroo…" Kenma mumbled as he shook Kuroo to wake him up. He had just gotten back from the washroom where he bumped into the coach, and the coach said that he needed to see Kuroo urgently, and if Kenma doesn't get Kuroo to meet him, he will have to do triple of the trainings.

"What is it…" Kuroo groaned out as he sat up, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He then opened his eyes and took a look at Kenma who was yawning away, and lying down, turning his back to face him.

"Coach… Wants to see you…" he mumbled and drifted off back to sleep.

* * *

"Come in." the coach called, and sometimes Kuroo always wondered if old people have troubles sleeping actually. How can one be so energetic at 6am in the morning!

"Good morning coach. You wanted to see me?" Kuroo called out as he entered and yawned at the same time. The coach then beckoned him to take a seat in front of him, and Kuroo did so with clumsy movements as he was still tired from yesterday's practice with Bokuto.

"It's about [name]." The coach sounded dead serious, and Kuroo couldn't help but open his eyes wide, as he was fully awake already, since it was a serious thing.

"What about her?" he asked, with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I believe you know Iwaizumi Hajime, from Seijō?" the coach asked, and Kuroo nodded. He was definitely alright with Iwaizumi, but he was definitely not alright with Oikawa Toru.

"Well, I believe you should know then. [name] and Iwaizumi Hajime are extremely close friends. And I happen to bump into Iwaizumi sometime back when all of you were studying for the final examinations." The coach continued.

" _You're the coach of Nekoma High's volleyball team, right?" Iwaizumi asked as he saw the coach sitting on a bench in the park, watching the kids play with a volleyball._

" _Ah, aren't you Iwaizumi Hajime from Seijō?" the coach chuckled out and patted the seat next to him, which Iwaizumi nodded and sat down beside him._

" _Today, we're not talking as I'm your rival's coach, and you're my team's rival. We're here, as a stranger maybe, as a friend, or as a mentor, whichever you will call it, Iwaizumi."_

" _Yes, I understand sir. But I was planning to look you up. It's regarding [name]." Iwaizumi spoke with a straight face._

" _Ah, the new captain of Nekoma High's girls' volleyball team, what about her?" the coach asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice, and also worrisome._

" _I'm extremely close friends with her, despite being in a different school now. She tells me things that bothers her and all, and I know every little detail about her. I saw how Tetsuro Kuroo was protective of her during the match we had at the Inter-High Preliminaries, and I couldn't help but feel that, he needs to know, you as well, as her coach too, should know." Iwaizumi spoke without missing a beat._

" _What is it then?" the coach asks, feeling even more worried now._

" _It's about [name]'s future."_

"Iwaizumi has told me that [name] pushes herself far past her limits whenever she feels that she isn't good enough. He also told me that if [name] decides to go to college, she will stop playing volleyball." The coach spoke, and he saw that Kuroo had his eyes opened wide when he had mentioned that [name] will stop playing volleyball if she enters college.

"But, why?" Kuroo managed to croaked out as his voice shook. He knows that [name] loves volleyball more than anyone else has. He knows that [name] devotes her life to it, and she will give up anything just to play volleyball. But why will she tell Iwaizumi that she will stop playing volleyball when she goes to college?

"She has fractured her left hand and right ankle before, it may seem healed now but Iwaizumi told me that occasionally the old injuries will act up and cause her to sit out of matches." The coach spoke with pain reflected in his eyes.

"Then what about that day she said that she used her left hand for the first time?" Kuroo asked with confusion shown in his eyes.

"I believe she didn't want anybody to know about it." The coach spoke calmly.

"Why not she gets surgery then? Why give up?" Kuroo asked, as his body trembled even more.

"Money wise. It costs a bomb to get a surgery, especially when she has two places to fix. And now she's pushing herself over her limits once again as she has her own goals now." The coach tried to speak calmly as he saw how worried Kuroo is.

"I'll help her!" Kuroo yelled as he panicked at the thought that [name] will give up on her favourite sports just for the injuries.

"Tetsuro, the only time you can convince her, is when she graduates. Right now, on her mind is going to college, as well as leading her team to the very top which is the nationals." The coach spoke and placed a hand on Kuroo's shoulder to calm him down.

"… She always puts others first… She always does that… She never thinks about herself, not even once… She rather be hurt and see others happy than to let others down… Why can't she be more selfish for herself… She's always suffering alone…" Kuroo muttered out and the coach ruffled his hair with a soft smile.

"But that's what you like about her, no?"

* * *

"Kenma! You need to eat!" Yaku chided Kenma as he realised that he was eating extremely little for breakfast. He then turned to look and spotted Lev, eating… More than he should be…

"Lev! You'll have a stomach ache if you eat too much!" Yaku then groaned and gave up. He then sat down and started to eat his share of the breakfast.

"Tsukki! You need to eat. Eat until you can't eat anymore!" Nishinoya yelled out as he carried a big plate that was filled to the brim with food, and Tsukki couldn't help but tease him.

"Nishinoya-san… At least your stomach is big." And he covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud, which Nishinoya then glared at him about it.

"Four eyes, you shouldn't be bullying your senpai…" [name] called out and ruffled Tsukki's hair as she walked past him with a plate of food in her other hand.

"Hey, hey, hey! Good morning!" and in came the owl, along with the rest of his team.

"You're as noisy as always, Bokuto-san…" Akaashi commented as he took a plate and started to grab the food from the counter, following closely behind Bokuto, afraid that the latter will create trouble early in the morning.

"Kageyama, don't be selfish! I saw that first!" Hinata cried out as he saw Kageyama taking the last pancake from the plate that was set on the counter. Kageyama then sighed and gave Hinata the pancake, causing the whole Karasuno gang to gasp.

"Is that Kageyama?!" Nishinoya called out in shock. Asahi looked like as if he was going to pass out anytime, and both Suga and Daichi were both stunned, staring at what had just happened before them. Tanaka then went up to Kageyama and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Yeap, he's definitely having a fever guys." Tanaka called out, and Kageyama couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He then noticed that Hinata was staring at him with a weird look, and then he snapped at him.

"I'll take it back if you continue to stare at me like that!"

"I didn't know the king of courts has such a kind side to himself." Tsukki teased, and Yamaguchi just snickered by his side. Kageyama then glared at Tsukki with angry marks on his forehead.

[name] then started to dig into her food when all of a sudden she felt someone nuzzling his/her nose into the crook of her neck, she then smiled softly and placed her cutlery down before ruffling the hair of her best friend, Tetsuro Kuroo. Kuroo leaned in more to her touch, and then he took a bite of her food that she had offered him.

She was glad that she was sitting alone at the table as the other girls had split up and mixed around with the rest of the boys, if she wasn't alone, she will never hear the end of it from them when they saw how she and Kuroo were acting. She then realised that she was still wearing Kuroo's jacket, and she was trying to get it off but Kuroo just decided to place his entire weight onto her, not allowing her to do anything.

"Keep it first…" He mumbled into her neck, and then dozed off. [name] sighed as she gave up trying to remove his jacket, and let him sleep on her shoulder while she ate her breakfast. Not knowing that everybody was looking at the duo the entire time.

* * *

"Kageyama, nice serve!" and Kageyama tossed the ball up and did a jump serve, but he had accidentally used too much power that it became an out ball.

"Out." Naomi called as she dodged the ball.

"Good call, Naomi!" [name] yelled out and ruffled her hair.

"Don't mind, Kageyama!"

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bring it on!" Hinata shouted and jumped up. [name] then jumped up and did a solid block on Hinata's quick spike, which then when both of them landed, Hinata could only sulk, and [name] giggled at his cute actions.

"Almost there, shrimp." [name] called out and Hinata couldn't help but beam with motivation at what [name] had just said.

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left!" Asahi called out, and Kageyama tossed a high toss that is slightly away from the net. [name] quickly rushed to Kyoko's side, and she also signalled to Naomi to stay behind them.

"Keep your block solid, Kyoko." [name] whispered to her and Kyoko nodded. They both then jumped up as soon as Asahi spiked, and sure enough it hit [name]'s hands, and she killed the spike.

"Nice block, captain!" Aiyu called out and gave her a high five.

* * *

"One lap of diving drills…" Daichi called out and then he started to do the diving drills together with his team, as well as Nekoma High's boys team who had lost to Fukurōdani Academy a score of 26-24.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto called out as he walked over to the bench where the girls were seated. The girls then giggled as they saw how shy Bokuto had become, whereas [name] was unfazed by it. She then looked at Bokuto and smirked.

"Not going to go easy on you, owl head." She called out, and Bokuto sulked slightly. Akaashi then sighed and dragged Bokuto away from the girls.

"That's what you get for belittling them that one time, Bokuto-san."

[name] then held out a towel as she saw Kuroo coming towards the girls along with the other boys of Nekoma High. She then handed it to Kuroo who gladly accepted it and wiped away the sweat that was dripping from his forehead.

* * *

"Washio, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

[name] then signalled to Aria who nodded. [name] then ran up towards the center but instead of jumping there, she jumped towards the side and spiked the ball that Aria had tossed, getting past Bokuto and Akaashi's block.

"Nice kill, captain!"

Akaashi sighed as he saw how synced [name] was with her team. He felt envious somehow, but he knew that he will be able to bring out the best in Bokuto, if only he wasn't so full of himself all the time.

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bokuto-san…" Akaashi called out and tossed the ball to Bokuto to spike. [name] then quickly signalled to Naomi to stay behind her as she blocks Bokuto's spike. Sure enough Bokuto ran away and did a feint instead, which Naomi receives it easily thanks to [name]'s signal, sending it to Aria.

"Captain!" Aria yelled out and tossed the ball to not [name], but she did fake out the blockers from Fukurōdani Academy. Aria ended up tossing the ball to Aiyu instead, allowing her to score a point without a blocker in sight.

"Nice one!"

"Bokuto-san, you ran away…" Akaashi commented with a straight face.

"N-No! I just got over their blocks! I got over them!" Bokuto cried out, feeling embarrassed.

"You let your guard down…" One of the teammates commented, and Bokuto sighed and sulked.

"Fine, fine! I ran away!" and he crossed his arms and sulked once more.

* * *

"One lap of diving drills…" Akaashi called out and dragged Bokuto with him to start on the drills while the girls head over to the bench for their water break once again.

"One lap of diving drills… Asahi you're doing double…" Daichi called out and started to do the drills, followed by the other team members of Karasuno High.

"[name]!" [name] heard her name being called and she turned to look who had called her. She wasn't sure who it was, but she looked around and couldn't seem to find the voice of the person who had just called her.

"I must be hearing things…" [name] mumbled to herself as she drank her water.

"[name]!" she then whipped her head around and looked out for the one who had called her, but she can't seem to find the voice of the person. She then scratched her head as she turned her whole body to take a better look, but she definitely knew it wasn't the ones in the gymnasium that was calling her.

* * *

"Alright, practice is over! Remember to rest well and eat up too! Clean up as well! Especially the boys! You made us do the cleaning early in the morning today!" Mukami Sensei ranted out and soon was dragged away by the other teacher advisors as they said he needed a drink to calm down.

[name] stretched and grabbed hold of her towel and bottle. She then took a look at her phone as she remembered that she was going to meet someone today. She then stepped out of the gymnasium and realised that it was raining heavily, feeling cold, she decided to put on Kuroo's jacket once again, and walk down the sheltered walkway, escaping from Bokuto.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where's [name]? She's supposed to be helping me with blocking." Bokuto cried out.

"[name]-senpai left already!" Aria called out as she went to gather the balls that were scattered around the court, helping Inuoka with it.

"Oh? Alright then, Kuroo!" Bokuto called out to the bed bead who was seated at the bench taking a short break.

"Aw, man…" Kuroo immediately sighed as he grabbed hold of his water bottle and took a sip.

"I haven't say anything yet!" Bokuto yelled.

* * *

" **Oi, it's freezing here! Hurry up already!"**

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Where are you?"

" **At the end of the sheltered walkway, idiot."**

"Why you got to be so rude? I see you."

" **Because, it's you."**

[name] sighed and raised her hand, smacking the person hard on his/her back. The person then winced in pain and had a soft smile plastered onto his/her face as he/she turned to take a look at [name].

"You're lucky that practice ended extremely early today."

"I feel honoured then, to have the great Iwaizumi Hajime to come see me immediately after his practice. So you were the one who has been calling my [name] when I was practicing!" [name] teased and stuck her tongue out while Iwaizumi ruffled her hair.

"Yeah. My mother made your favourite food when I told her I'm going to go see you, and here's your medication. Your psychiatrist gave me a scolding, nearly close to a beating if I hadn't glared at him. He said you shouldn't be skipping the sessions and focusing only on volleyball." Iwaizumi ranted as both he and [name] walked down the sheltered walkway, towards a secluded area where nobody goes to.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that for the 6th time." [name] apologised as she took hold of the medications that Iwaizumi held out for her, and she kept it into the pocket of Kuroo's jacket.

"That jacket looks a little too big on you, whose is it?" Iwaizumi asked as he started to grab out her favourite food from the plastic bag he was carrying, onigiri. [name] then sat down and made Iwaizumi sit down as well, and she grabbed onto the onigiri that Iwaizumi had held out for her.

"This jacket? It's bed head's jacket." She answered and took a bite out of the onigiri that Iwaizumi's mother had made, savouring the flavours and everything about it. She then noticed that Iwaizumi himself was also eating the onigiri that his mother had made, and they sat in silence for a good 10 minutes, to finish up the food.

* * *

"You know, I could easily beat trashykawa up and make sure he doesn't find trouble with you again." Iwaizumi spoke as he looked up to the night sky before them. They couldn't see the moon, nor the stars as it was covered with rain clouds, and it was still raining heavily.

"You know I don't want the both of you to fall out because of me. If he didn't do anything wrong to you, you shouldn't be doing anything to him, that's how you roll." [name] spoke as she looked out to the sight before her and Iwaizumi.

"True that. And also you will never accept my help or anybody else's help when it comes to your own personal matters." Iwaizumi spoke and then turned to give [name] a soft smile, which she gladly returns.

"That's just me." [name] shrugged her shoulders and giggled when Iwaizumi rolled his eyes at her and punched her lightly on the top of her head. [name] then held the area that he had punched and pout at him.

"Sometimes, I'm always wondering. Why do you put others first? Why do you let yourself suffer along when you know you have friends who are willing to help you? Why don't you think about yourself and put yourself first?" Iwaizumi asked as he looked out once again.

"I know what's it like to be alone." She mumbled out, and that caused Iwaizumi to look at her, beckoning her to continue, which she just had a soft smile on her face and turned to face out, continuing her sentence.

"You know that feeling of being alone? That feeling when you hate yourself so much, but you just don't want to see people ending up like you. Feeling worthless, hatred, everything. It's not a nice feeling, and I don't want that to happen to anybody." [name] spoke and continued to stare out to the sight before her.

"You're such an idiot, [name]." Iwaizumi sighed as he ruffled her hair.

"An idiot that you care about for the past 3 years, Hajime." She teased, and Iwaizumi could only smile softly at her.

"What about your injuries? Do you intend to get surgeries for them?" Iwaizumi asked.

"I'm… Going to stop volleyball I guess, after I graduate…" she mumbled.

* * *

"Alright, I need to go. It's getting late already. I wouldn't want to be late for practice tomorrow, if not asskawa will start provoking me." Iwaizumi muttered as he stood up and stretched. He then pulled [name] up and ruffled her hair once more before turning away and walking off.

"Thank you, for being an idiotic big brother, Hajime!" she called out, and could see that Iwaizumi felt agitated by the word 'idiotic', but she giggled as he continued to walk away, waving to her from the back.

[name] then smiled softly as she walked back towards the gymnasiums, and stopped in front of the third gymnasium where Bokuto and the others were, practicing their spiking and blocking. She stood at the entrance and looked inside, she then realised that they had gotten Yamaguchi to play with them. With a soft smile, she sighed and turned to walk away…

"[name]!" she heard someone call her, and she turned. She then realised that Suga had called out to her, and she waved before turning her back once again and walked away. When all of a sudden she was pulled by the arm. She then turned to see that Kuroo had grabbed hold of her, she stared at him with a confused look in her eyes.

"I'm going to shower and then sleep." Was all she said.

* * *

[name] stretched as she walked down the sheltered walkway. She had just finished taking a shower and was about to head back to the sleeping rooms when all of a sudden she spotted someone in the shadows. She stared at it for a little while, but chose to ignore and continued to walk. When she was about to turn in to the sleeping rooms, she saw Hinata standing in the middle of the walkway.

"Shrimp?" she called out, and saw Hinata turning to look at her.

"T-There's something else among us…" he mumbled, and [name] stared in confusion still. She then placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

"You must be seeing things. It's kind of late, you should go and sleep already." She spoke, and Hinata continued to speak.

"But… It looks like a kid…" he mumbled, and all of a sudden both of them heard footsteps coming from behind them, and she found that Hinata tensed up all of a sudden.

"Why are you all in the walkway…" they heard a voice, and they turned to look that it was a dark figure. Hinata started screaming, and [name] quickly covered his mouth with her hand as she narrowed her eyes.

"SHRIMP! IT'S JUST YOUR LIBERO!" she called out as Nishinoya stood out into the light.

"Huh… B-B-But, Nishinoya-senpai has grown shorter!" he cried out and [name] stared at Nishinoya, and she couldn't agree that Nishinoya had indeed grown shorter. She then burst out laughing and pointed at Nishinoya.

"Your hair adds on to 10cm of your height doesn't it!" she cried out.

"H-Hey!" Nishinoya stuttered with a flustered face. He then felt a hand on his shoulder…

"Don't make so much noise…" a voice spoke out, and when [name] and the other two turned to look, both Hinata and Nishinoya screamed, whereas [name] just burst out laughing as she knew who it was.

"Oi! It's me, Kuroo!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY AND GO TO SLEEP!" Daichi's voice sounded throughout the campus grounds, and [name] couldn't help but giggle as she saw how scared Nishinoya and Hinata were, and how embarrassed Kuroo was as his hair was almost flat right now as he had just gotten out of the showers. Hinata and Nishinoya soon left the duo alone at the walkway.

* * *

Kuroo was walking [name] back to the sleeping area where the girls were designated to, and he couldn't help but wanting to ask [name] about her injuries then. All of a sudden [name] held out his jacket to him, and he took it with a slight confused look on his face. She smiled a soft smile and continued to walk down the sheltered walkway.

"[name]!" Kuroo called out as he took big strides to reach her. She turned to look at him with a questioning look and then he breathed in a deep breath and started to speak once again.

"Are you… Hiding something from me?"

"Truth be told; I am hiding something from you."

"Why won't you tell me then?"

"Now isn't the right time. You'll know soon… Very soon." And she smiled up at him with a smile that Kuroo knew too well. A smile that shows that she will be fine, and he didn't need to worry about her for the time being.

"Well, goodnight." She called out and hugged him, before heading back to the room to get her rest.

* * *

In the sleeping room where the boys were designated to, none of them were asleep. Even Daichi. They were all awake, chatting away and also playing cards. Kuroo was sitting by the window once again, wearing his jacket. He sighed as he stuffed his hands into his jacket's pockets and then he felt some plastic in it.

Curiosity got the better of him and he pulled the object out. He noticed it was medications and then he turned it over to look at the prescription.

"Ah, that girl forgot about her medications…" Kuroo mumbled and made a mental note to pass it back to her in the morning.

"Ne, don't you think Kuroo is being weird lately?"

"He has been acting like an emo, sitting at the window…"

"Yeah… Is he trying to get [name]-senpai's attention?"

"Guys! Do you all know how Kuroo-senpai looks when he doesn't have his usual hairstyle?"

"Nishinoya-senpai and I saw it just now!"

And Kuroo immediately got into a pillow fight with Hinata and Nishinoya, causing laughter to erupt from the room as he was extremely embarrassed as nobody saw him without his hairstyle before.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" the girls voice was soon sounded, and everybody went dead silent.


	11. STC Day Four

"Hey, hey, hey. Good morning!" Bokuto called out as he hopped into the cafeteria and was surprised to see that his team was the first to arrive. He looked around and spotted the coaches, managers and teacher advisors seated at a table, and he soon grabbed a seat as well.

"Bokuto-san… You're still as noisy as ever…" Akaashi commented as he sat beside him.

"Akaashi, you should say that my voice is like music to your ears!" he yelled, and Akaashi stared at him dully.

"Shut up already, Owl head." Kuroo called out as he entered, with [name] by his side and the rest of Nekoma High behind them. [name] just stretched and yawned as she grabbed a seat which was just beside Akaashi. But before she could actually sit down, she was dragged by the arm and she turned to look at who it was.

"Captain! Come with us!" Aiyu called out and dragged [name] out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, I haven't eaten anything!" she cried out, and she was extremely hungry.

"Don't worry! Just come with us." Aiyu giggled and continued to drag her beloved captain towards the gymnasium. [name] sighed in defeat and allowed herself to be dragged by her teammates into the second gymnasium.

* * *

"What's up with all these?" [name] asked as she saw the picnic that was laid out on the gymnasium's floor. She was then ushered by both Aiyu and Aria, and they made her sit down.

"Well…" Kyoko spoke, but her face was red with embarrassment that [name] just lifted an eyebrow and looked at the rest of the team. Aria then took in a deep breath and walked up from the team and started to speak.

"We really want to show you how much we appreciate your efforts in being our captain. For putting us first, for always being there for us. And of course for guiding us whenever we made a mistake. Thank you for being patient with us despite knowing us for only a few months." Aria spoke without missing a beat, and her face turned extremely red after she had finished her short speech.

[name] stared in shock, and the rest of the team then looked away as they felt embarrassed. [name] then started to laugh, startling the team.

"[n-name]-senpai?" [name] then stood up and ruffled Aria's hair.

"Thank you, for being the ones who opened my eyes. For letting me play on, for having my back. I know I can count on all of you." She spoke with a genuine smile, and brought the girls in for a group hug. All of a sudden their stomachs growled and they burst out laughing.

"Just at the moment!"

"Let's eat!"

And the girls tucked into the food that they had prepared early in the morning along with the staffs in the cafeteria.

While the girls munched on the food that they had prepared, Aria suddenly spoke up regarding about practices.

"Ne, [name]-senpai. I feel like trying out the Karasuno freak duo's quick spikes." She spoke as she reached out for another sandwich. [name] then stared at her in shock, but soon it was replaced with a smile and she ruffled her hair.

"Let's do it then." She said with a smile.

"I told you [name]-senpai wouldn't think that I'm crazy!" Aria called out and stuck a tongue out at the rest of the team. They could only snicker as they saw [name]'s face paling slightly at her sudden outburst.

"It is crazy, but it's worth the try. No?" [name] spoke as she drank her water.

"You're crazy too, captain…" the team mumbled out, causing [name] to choke on her water as she glared at the comment that they just made about her.

"If I wasn't crazy, I wouldn't be your captain." She mumbled out as she chomped down on the sandwich she was holding.

"That's true though." Kyoko cried out and giggled when [name]'s face went red.

* * *

"Today, you will all be practicing spiking and blocking for the first 30 minutes. And then you'll move on to your normal practice matches." The coach called out.

"Yes, sir!"

"Ne, captain. Let's try it!" Aria spoke as she grabbed onto [name]'s arm and pulling her towards the court that they were designated to.

"Aria, you do realise that quick spikes like shrimp's only works on certain people right?" she asked as she started to do squats. Aria then nodded as she practiced tossing to herself.

"I tried on Yuki, Kyoko-senpai, Aiyu-senpai as well. But it seems that I can't sync with their spikes, so I decided to stick to bringing out their full potential by giving them the tosses that they do best with." Aria spoke.

"That's what a setter should be doing. Bringing out the full potential of the spikers. Alright, let's start?" [name] called out as she got into position.

"Alright!" and Aria tossed a ball to Aiyu. Aiyu could only spike her best when the toss is slightly low and a little near to the net.

"Nice kill!" the team called out.

"Nice toss, Aria!" Aiyu then ruffled her hair.

"Toss for me please!" Kyoko called out, and Aria nodded. Tossing a slightly high and a little further away from the net kind of toss, allowing Kyoko to be able to spike with all her might.

"Nice toss!" Kyoko called out and ruffled Aria's hair as well.

"My turn!" Yuki called out and winked at Aria who just winked back and tossed for her. She tossed a slightly low toss and a little far from the net, allowing her to spike with all her might. Yuki is only able to hit balls that may seem like it will hit the net, but it doesn't.

"Nice toss!" and she hi-fived with Aria.

"Aria, give me a normal toss first. Let me warm up." [name] called out, and Aria nodded. Tossing a high ball that's close to the net, allowing [name] to spike down hard. She then landed on her feet, but somehow her right ankle seems to have made some sort of cracking sound, causing her to wince slightly, and she panicked a little as well. She then started to walk away from the net, and she realised that she could walk normally without any pain, so she thought she was fine.

* * *

"If we really want to make it successful… Kyoko, Aiyu. I need you two to try and block me." [name] called out and both Kyoko and Aiyu gasped and paled slightly.

"Block…"

"You…"

"You must be crazy, captain!"

"How are we suppose to-?"

"Try!" [name] snapped and made a little cute gesture with her mouth, causing her team to laugh at her attempt to make them smile. She then smiled softly and positioned herself. She then nodded to Aria, and she started to run at full speed, running dead straight.

"Shrimp always dodge where the blockers are. So if the blockers are right in front of me… I'll go right!" she thought to herself and she immediately ran to the right, Aria saw this and she tossed an extremely insane toss to [name]…

.

.

.

*SLAM*

"W-What…" Naomi mumbled out.

"She… She just did it…" Kyoko stared from the side she was blocking.

And when [name] stood back straight up, they swore that they could feel the seriousness that [name] had put in into concentrating on that insane toss.

"Oi, did [name] just did a quick spike with that insane toss like that shrimp?" Yaku asked Kuroo who was staring in shock at what had just happened.

[name] however, look dissatisfied she then turned to Aria and smiled softly at her.

"One more time." And Aria nodded.

"Ah… The mother cat has finally found a way to evolve further… But if she doesn't be careful, she might devour her own kittens." Nekomata whispered, with a slight smirk on his face.

* * *

"Captain, you shouldn't push yourself too much." Aiyu called out as this was the 6th time that [name] and Aria are trying out the insane spike.

"Yeah, you should rest already, [name]" Kyoko called out as she went below the net and walked over to where [name] was standing. She then placed a hand on [name]'s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. [name] sighed and smiled up at Kyoko. She then nodded and head over to the benches to get a short break and hydrate herself.

"You know… I'm afraid that one day you might devour us." [name] heard a voice and she turned to look at who had spoken, Naomi. She had on a soft smile, but yet a sad one too. [name] then ruffled her hair and spoke,

"We're a team. If I were devour all of you, I will be on my own. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, but as long as our connection is there as a team, as long as we work together as a team, improve together, that's all that matters. No?" she spoke with a soft smile and Naomi could only nod in response as she felt overwhelmed by what [name] had said.

"And I also know that you're improving as well. I heard you tried to jump from the back line to the front and do a toss before landing, no?" [name] smirked as she saw how flustered Naomi had become then.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it in action."

"Y-Yes!"

* * *

"Tsukki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kyoko-senpai!" Aria called out and tossed the ball that Kyoko spiked best; tossing a slightly high and a little further away from the net kind of toss, allowing Kyoko to be able to spike with all her might. She managed to do a clean wipe on Tanaka's blocking.

"Tch!" Tanaka managed to mutter out and all Kyoko could do was smirk.

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Give it to me!" Tanaka yelled, and he slammed hard.

"Nice one-touch!"

"[name]-senpai!" Aria called out and tossed an insane quick one, and [name] spiked it hard right through the area where there wasn't any blockers.

"Nice kill!"

"That spike… Was just like Hinata's…"

"Yuki, one more nice serve!"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Yuki cried out as her serve had hit the net instead of going over to the opponent's court.

"Don't mind, don't mind! Get it the next time!" [name] called out, and the whole team couldn't help but smile at the way she is able to bring the mood up.

"Hinata, nice serve!" and Hinata's serve hit the net, but it fell onto the other side of the court. [name] managed to dive down and save it just in time, sending it up to Aria.

"Aria!" Aiyu called out and Aria tossed to Aiyu, a toss that is slightly low and a little near to the net.

"Nice kill!"

* * *

"Akaashi, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!" [name] called out, and Aria nodded. But apparently she didn't catch the signal that [name] was showing and she tossed the insane quick toss. She then panicked when she realised that [name] had meant for a normal toss…

.

.

.

*SLAM*

"Eh?" Aria stared as she looked over to the other side of the court. Sure enough the ball was in the other side of the court. Aria then turned to look at [name] who had just landed and brought her… left hand down.

"Oi." [name] yelled out, and Aria turned to look at her with a frightened look. She then smiled a soft smile as she saw [name] giving her a thumbs up. [name] then turned and shouted,

"One more time!"

"Yes, captain!"

"It seems like there isn't going to be any problem with the girls team. They're extremely bonded." Karasuno's coach spoke as he watched how the team had synchronised.

"Left, left!"

"Two blockers!" [name] yelled but Bokuto managed to spike through the blocks. Aria then accidentally touched the ball first, causing her unable to do a toss anymore.

"Crap!"

"Leave it to me!" Naomi called out, and she jumped from the backline to the front and tossed a ball. She had tossed the ball to [name] who then did a quick spike straight down, earning a point.

"Nice one!"

"Ne, was that libero a setter before?" Bokuto asked Akaashi who just shrugged his shoulders.

"It looks like the little kittens are growing up as well." Nekomata commented as he chuckled at what had just happened.

* * *

"10 running laps up the hill…" both Daichi and Akaashi called out, and they started to run.

"Captain!" both Yukis called out as they ran up to their captains who were standing side by side each other. They then handed them a piece of paper each, allowing them to read over.

"Ah, so currently first in place is… Eh… Why is it the girls?" Kuroo pouted and looked over to [name] who just shrugged her shoulders and stuck her tongue out.

"Last in place is Karasuno High." [name] pointed out as she looked over the scores.

"Looks like if we want the actual Battle at the Trash Dump to happen, we need to…" Kuroo spoke and smirked at [name] who just shrugged her shoulders and went over to where the coach were, and they bent down slightly and whispered into the coaches' ears.

Soon enough, the coaches were smirking as well.

* * *

"Come on guys, let's head over to gymnasium number 3." Coach Ukai called out as he spotted Karasuno High's volleyball team coming back after a slight short break from their full streak of penalties.

"Ne, where did Kuroo and [name] go?" Kyoko asked as she practiced tossing with Naomi.

"I heard they're helping out Karasuno High with their training." Naomi spoke as she tossed again.

"Mou, then let's practice with the others too! We can't be behind!" Aiyu giggled and ushered her two seniors towards the court that the others were waiting for them.

"Yo. Thank you for volunteering to help out." Coach Ukai called out as soon as he entered the third gymnasium.

"No problem!" Kuroo and [name] called out, while the Karasuno team stared in shock that they were going to help them with their trainings.

"I'll just sit back and relax, right?" Coach Ukai called out as he sat down on the bench along with the managers as well as the teacher advisor. [name] just gave him a thumbs up and looked back towards the team that was standing before her and Kuroo.

"Now, any idea why you guys are here?" [name] asked and looked around. Hinata then put up his hand and he immediately answered with an answer that made [name] hit her head onto Kuroo's shoulder hard.

"Because you're going to teach us cool moves?!"

Kuroo then patted [name]'s shoulder and tried to encourage her to not get irritated by Hinata's dumbness. She then breathed in and out deeply and turned to face them again and spoke.

"Because you guys are the weakest team here."

And that comment hit a nerve. But the team knew they can't argue with about it as it was the truth. Coach Ukai, the managers as well as the teacher advisor could only snicker at what [name] had just said.

"Firstly, timing is extremely off! Kageyama!" [name] yelled and pointed at Kageyama, who flinched and immediately sat up straight with a pale face.

"Every spiker has their own potential. But it takes the setter to bring out their full potential, do you not understand any part of it?" [name] ask-yelled the question, and Kageyama trembled with fear, causing the others to snicker slightly as they hardly see Kageyama being afraid.

"You. I want to see your jump float serve." [name] then pointed to Yamaguchi. Kuroo only snickered at everything that was happening, and he let [name] do all the yelling and scolding.

"Libero, responsible for receiving the attack or serve. Right?" [name] called out and looked to Nishinoya who nodded with blinging eyes, and [name] swore she could actually see a tail wagging behind him. She rubbed her temples and muttered some curses under her breath before continuing.

"Middle blockers!" then [name] stopped and sighed.

"You know what, let's just get into a match. Split yourself into two groups." [name] called out as she dragged Kuroo to the sides where the coach was sitting.

* * *

"Better play like you mean it!" [name] yelled out and passed the ball to Kageyama.

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Crap." Ennoshita muttered as he didn't receive Kageyama's serve properly.

"Move when the ball is about to cross the net! Don't hesitate!" [name] yelled out.

"One more time!" and she passed the ball to Kageyama.

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Nice one, number 6!" [name] called out.

"Right, right!" and Suga tossed a ball to number 7, and he managed to spike through the block.

"Oi, glasses boy!" Kuroo called out, and Tsukki flinched.

"Block like you mean it, damn it!" he yelled. He then walked over to both Kageyama and Tsukki, and taught them his way of blocking.

"Read block, you need to read your opponents eyes. But it's your choice if you want to follow their eyes. That one time when I followed [name]'s eyes, she did another spike instead. And when you block, you put your hand in front of you instead of above you. In front of you." Kuroo explained, and both Kageyama and Tsukki nodded.

"One more time, pinch server!" [name] called out as Kuroo walked back. She then passed the ball to Yamaguchi and beckoned for him to start. He stood nervously, and [name] noticed it.

"Hey." She called out, and everybody turned to look at her. Yamaguchi then trembled even more as he thought he was going to get a scolding from [name], but he ended up relaxing when he saw her soft smile.

"You know in matches when they blow the whistle for you to start your serve right? You have 5 seconds to gain your composure, so don't stress out and immediately serve at the blow of the whistle." [name] explained, and Yamaguchi nodded. He then took a few deep breaths and served his ball.

"Nice one." [name] called out as she saw his jump float serve going over to the other side of the court.

"Nice receive!"

And all the spikers started to run, and Kageyama did a toss. Tossing it to the back, allowing their ace to spike.

"Did they just did a synchronisation attack?" Kuroo asked, and [name] could only nod.

"Nice receive!" [name] and Kuroo then quickly turned to the other side of the court, and they realised that Yamaguchi had received the ball.

"Right, right!" number 7 called out.

"Hinata, don't rush!" [name] called out as she saw Hinata jumping right before the ball was tossed. Suga then sighed as he tossed the ball to the left side instead of the right where Hinata was blocking, allowing Ennoshita to score a point.

"This is going to be a long training." Kuroo whistled out.

"Sure is… But it's going to be worth it." [name] smirked, and Kuroo could only ruffle her hair and smile at her. He then placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to his body.

"You know, you're damn sexy when you're yelling." Kuroo whispered into her ear, and she rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the abdomen hard, yet a blush was seen on her face. Kuroo stared in shock, and slowly smirked as he saw the blush that was pretty obvious on her fair skin tone.

"Asahi, nice serve!" and Asahi served… But it ended up hitting Daichi at the back of his head. Daichi then turned to glare at Asahi who quickly apologised. [name] sighed, and Kuroo then gestured for her to go all out on that Ace.

"IF YOU MISS ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR I WILL STRIP YOU OFF THE TITLE OF ACE!" [name] yelled.

"Y-Yes!" Asahi called out and everybody laughed at him.

"This is definitely a sight that I'll never get bored off." Kuroo whispered as he stretched out.

"Oh, shut up already." [name] muttered with her face turning beet red.

* * *

"Your libero should be practicing more of his toss if he wants to follow what Seijō's libero did as well as Naomi. Ace should be practicing his serves. Genius setter over there should probably be practicing with shrimp, to get the tempo right. You two need to synchronise if you want your weirdo attacks to actually work. The rest of you, don't really have much issues. Ah, glasses boy! You need to practice your blocking." Kuroo called out.

"Nishinoya, maybe if you want I'll get Naomi to practice with you for the tossing. The ace, and the bald head should probably practice with you as well, if you want to make your toss a successful one. I'll probably be borrowing Yamamoto and Lev as well to help with blocking, along with Tsukki." [name] called out, and Nishinoya nodded his head vigorously. [name] sighed and then looked up at the team once again.

"Don't mind." Suga called out and patted Tanaka on the back while the others were snickering at him, for [name] just called him 'bald head'. [name] then rubbed the back of her neck and looked around. She gave Coach Ukai a slight nod as he headed out with the managers and teacher advisors to join Nekomata and the others in another drinking session.

"The rest of you should practice your receiving. With that, practice has ended today. Good work!" [name] called out and then stretched. She then turned to grab her stuff when all of a sudden Kuroo grabbed her arm and made her turn to face the Karasuno team. She then stared at them for a little while, and then they yelled.

"Please, practice with us!" and [name] paled slightly at their determination to get better. She sighed and then placed her bottle and towel back down, and looked at them.

"Why not, we gather everybody and do a different kind of practice?" [name] smiled.

* * *

"Ah…" Akaashi mumbled out as he listened to what [name] was saying.

"Since all of us still practice after the training, so I was thinking maybe we should do this instead. Some of us will be practicing their spiking and blockings. Some tossing, some receiving. So I believe it will be good to do a full rotation, don't you think so?" [name] spoke out, and then she made a face when she saw that Bokuto honestly didn't get what she was trying to say.

"Karasuno High has already split into the categories of skills that they have to improve on. I will appreciate if you lots do that as well." And [name] smiled an angelic smile, which made the boys and girls feel that something was wrong with it, and they quickly split up.

"Alright, start!" [name] called out, and everybody started their after training practices.

"[name], which are you going to?" Kuroo asked as he took a sip from his bottle.

"Most probably spiking. I want to practice spiking with my left hand." And [name] quickly took a sip from her bottle and ran towards the court where the others were practicing spiking at, leaving a rather worried looking Kuroo behind.

"You do realise you can't over do your left hand…" Kuroo muttered filled with worry.

* * *

"Seconds, please!"

"Sometimes I don't get how can you eat so much yet all those nutrients just doesn't add on to your height…" Tsukki mumbled loud enough for Hinata to hear, and Hinata replied with his mouth full of rice, causing Tsukki being unable to understand a single thing he said.

"[name], are you alright?" Kyoko asked as she sat down beside [name] in the cafeteria. She had noticed that [name]'s left hand has been trembling for a little while after all those spikes she had done during the practice.

"I'll be fine, it will stop soon!" [name] spoke with a smile, and immediately placed her hand under the table. Kuroo was seating just on the other side of her, and he already noticed that her left hand had been trembling for quite some time already. He sighed and then grabbed hold of her, pulling her out of the cafeteria, leaving Kyoko a little, confused at what had just happened.

* * *

"Bed head, let go of me!" [name] cried out as Kuroo continued to drag her towards the grassy hill where the penalties running penalties was always held at. He then pulled her up all the way to the top of the small hill, and finally let go of her. [name] then pout slightly as she massaged her arm, and then she noticed Kuroo wasn't facing her at all.

"Bed head?" [name] called out, and lightly touched the arm of his. She knew he was definitely crying. She then made him turn to face her, and he did so reluctantly. She then pushed him slightly, ushering him to take a seat on the grassy hill, which he did so, and he pulled her down with him. Making her sit just beside him.

"I'll tell you a story, just listen alright?" taking silence as a yes, [name] started to tell Kuroo a story.

"There was once a girl, who loved volleyball with all her heart. But there was something else that she loved even more. She loved everybody else around her even more. She's the kind of girl who is willing to give up on her dreams just to make others happy, the kind of girl who might be sick in bed, yet she goes out into the rain to comfort a heartbroken friend. The kind of girl who will do anything to see a smile on another person's face, be it stranger or not.

But what others didn't know was, she was the lonely kind of girl. Being adopted into an abusive family, growing up with the feeling of being worthless and pathetic. Having to work after school to earn her own pocket money and savings. Despite all these, she still smiled though. She still plays volleyball, because it makes her happy. But the smile on others' people's face, makes her happier. You might think, why doesn't she think for herself? She does. She thinks of going to the nationals, she thinks of continuing with volleyball club activities when she reaches High School, as well as College. But it all stopped. It all stopped when she graduated from Middle School.

It was a rainy day, and she was running out of her house, trying her best to avoid the beatings she was about to get from her parents as they had lost money in a bet. She was running, crying as well, but nobody knew. Who will know that you're crying when it's raining? She ran, and ran some more, trying her best to get her mind to think straight, until she met with an accident.

The doctor said she was lucky to only have fractured her left hand and her right ankle. But what he didn't know was, it might cost her future, until she asked the doctor. And he said, it will be best for her to not take part in any more sports activities. That itself was a big blow. She cried day and night in the hospital, nobody visited her. None of her friends knew. She was heartbroken, in so much pain. But yet she went home, still with a smile. Still trying hard to bring out the smiles on other people's faces, yet she was still suffering on the inside.

And then she went on to High School. She couldn't help herself but to see how the girls in her High School team played. She missed the feeling of being on the court. Missed the feeling of scoring and killing. She missed everything about volleyball. And she thought, maybe, just for another three years and she will officially stop. But then she met a boy. A boy that killed her many times on the inside.

The first two years she was alright with him. They laugh, they joke, and they bonded together. They even practiced volleyball together. Sometimes hanging out, sometimes just doing homework together. They were inseparable. They both love volleyball to death, maybe that's why they clicked. But when they both moved on to their third year of High School and got together, things changed. Things changed after the boy had come back from a certain match against one of his most hated rival. The girl soon got scared about everything. She became a coward. "

[name] finished her story and looked up to the night sky before her. Full of stars, and the moon was up and shining brightly. She had on a soft smile, and tears were in her eyes. She didn't really thought about telling Kuroo this story, but she felt… Maybe he should know.

"The girl isn't a coward." Kuroo's voice soon disturbed her thoughts. She then turned to look at him, and he had on a serious look. He then pulled her towards him, and wrapped his arms around her, tightening his hold on her.

"She has been strong for too long." He whispered, and [name] could only cry in his arms.

"She just needs people who loves her, who cares for her. She just need someone to lean on when she's too tired of trying. She just needs someone who will bring the best out in her, and not betray her. And I'm sure, she knows that too." Kuroo continued to whisper.

He then pulled back slightly, and grabbed hold of [name]'s chin, tilting it up. He then used both of his hands and cupped her cheeks, wiping away the tears that were rolling down. He closed the gap between them, and kissed her on the lips. [name] tensed up, but soon relax and returned the kiss back to Kuroo. They both then parted, and Kuroo looked at [name] straight in her eyes with a serious, yet loving face.

"I'll be your reason to hold on. Your reason to try everyday. Your reason to live. Your reason to love." Kuroo whispered, and [name] nodded as Kuroo pulled her in for another tight hug.

"And I'll definitely protect you."

* * *

 **A/N:** My updates are going to be less frequent as I'm currently busy with my studies. But do let me know if I've taken too long to do an update. I'll try to do an update on every weekend.


	12. STC Day Five

"Why does it have to be us?!" Yuki whined out as she put on a pair of casual shoes, while [name] was putting on a jacket as it was rather chilly outside. Aiyu was still putting on some shorts, whereas Aria, Naomi and Kyoko were already outside waiting.

"Apparently, because someone decided to play a prank on the boys, but ended up pranking the coach instead." [name] spoke as she pulled her hair out from beneath her jacket and flipped it back. Yuki then cringed slightly, as she knew clearly it was her fault. She had decided to replace the shampoos in the bathroom where the boys always used for their showers with purple paint.

"I'm sorry…" Yuki mumbled, and [name] then ruffled her hair hard and smiled.

"It's alright to have fun once in a while, and we sure could use a break. I'm pretty sure my dearest bed head will probably start ranting the moment we come back. After all, the coach did give us an hour and a half time off today, since he said we're improving tremendously." [name] spoke as she stepped out of the room, and all of a sudden she realised that it was extremely quiet. She then turned to look, and she realised her girls were staring at her with their eyes and mouth opened wide.

"Y-Y-Y-Your…" Kyoko stuttered out.

"D-D-Dearest…" Yuki and Aria stuttered out

"Bed head?!" Naomi and Aiyu yelled out, causing [name] to wince at their loud scream. [name] then looked at her girls and gave them a slight nod, and all of a sudden…

"ABOUT TIME ALREADY!" they all called out and hugged [name] tightly.

"When did it happen?!" Aiyu asked, wanting all the details.

"Last night." [name] spoke as they walked towards the entrance of the camp grounds. Then Kyoko had asked her if it was when he had dragged her out during dinnertime, which [name] nodded.

"Did you two kiss?!" Naomi asked, currently fangirling with Aiyu.

"Yes." [name] replied a short answer as they made their way out of the gate.

"Oh my god!" the girls squealed and then Kyoko nudged [name].

"So… Did you two do anything else, besides kissing?" Kyoko asked with a smirk on her face, and [name] knew that face oh to well. Her face then turned beet red, as she stuttered out.

"K-Kyoko!"

* * *

"C-Coach!" Kuroo stared in shock, trying his best to stifle his laugh while the other boys from his team as well as the other schools were laughing their ass out as they saw what had happened to Nekomata.

"Don't ask. It's all because of someone's girlfriend." Nekmata sighed as he took a look at his purple coloured hands. Kuroo then stiffened, seeming to think that it was [name] who had pulled a prank on the coach.

"I apologise on behalf of [name]!" Kuroo yelled and bowed down 90 degrees, startling the coach and everybody else. Then silence filled the cafeteria, and when Kuroo stood back up straight, he swore that he saw his coach looking extremely confuse at the moment.

"What are you talking about, idiot! It wasn't [name], it was Yu Yuki!" the coach snapped at Kuroo, causing him to flinch slightly, and also causing his team's Yuki to tensed up.

"Ah… So it wasn't [name]… Thank goodness…" he thought to himself, and all of a sudden he heard snickers behind him, and he turned to look that his team was snickering at him, including Kenma! He then tilted his head slightly, and gave them a confused look.

"About time you got together with her already!" Yaku called out and smacked Kuroo on the back.

"So, when did it happen?" Suga asked out of curiosity.

"Last night." Kuroo mumbled with a blush on his face.

"Eh, so did you guys kiss?" Tanaka asked, teasing him.

"Y-Yeah, we did…" he mumbled, face getting even redder.

"So… Did you guys do anything else?" his coach asked, and smirked. Kuroo knew that smirk oh too well, and his face went extremely redder, and Yaku swore that you can actually cook an egg on him since his face was hot.

"C-Coach!" Kuroo cried out, causing everybody to burst out laughing at the flustered bed head.

"Hey, hey, hey! Good morning!" Bokuto called out as he entered the cafeteria with his teammates. He then stopped in front of the coach and…

"HAHAHAHHAHA, NEKOMA HIGH HAS A PURPLE DINOSAUR. HAHAHAHAHHAHA." He burst out laughing, and he was immediately smacked hard on the back of his head by his beloved setter, Akaashi.

"Bokuto-san, you're just being rude and noisy early in the morning." Akaashi commented.

"I've got a question though." Tsukishima called out after he had taken a look throughout the cafeteria.

"Where is [name]-senpai and the others?"

"Oh, I sent them on a special errand after Yuki did this to me." The coach explained, and all of them just 'oh'-ed in response, trying their best to keep their laughter in, including Kenma and Akaashi.

"And I thought about giving her back her medications today after I forgot about it yesterday. Tch." Kuroo mumbled to himself as he went to get breakfast with his team.

* * *

"Ah, under the name of Nekomata Yasufumi, right?" the man at the meat store asked, which [name] nodded at. She didn't really like the smell of raw meat, and it was rather overwhelming, and she definitely felt sick in her stomach right now.

"Alright, give me a moment. But are you sure you girls are able to carry? They're kind of-." And Naomi immediately cut the man off by speaking up all of a sudden.

"Don't look down on us!" and she pouted, [name] laughed softly and ruffled her hair, apologising to the man as well.

"It's alright! Give me a moment and I'll get everything out for ya!" and the man left and turned into the storage room to get out the orders that Nekomata had placed.

"Mou, he was being mean!" Naomi whined and pout, and [name] just ruffled her hair more.

"Come on, don't take it to heart ya." [name] smiled softly, and Naomi just nodded, with the pout still on her face. The man was then seen entering and exiting the storage room a couple of times, and finally after the 6th time, he stopped.

"Alright, everything's out!" and [name] paid him with the money that Nekomata had passed to her, and the girls started to carry all the heavy boxes filled with meat out.

"Be careful alright!" the man called out.

* * *

"Yuki, are you alright?" [name] asked as she saw Yuki's hand slightly trembling when she was carrying the box of meat. [name] then didn't wait for an answer, and put her box down with ease, and then grabbing hold onto Yuki's box, taking it from her.

"Mine's lighter." [name] spoke and continued to walk down, not knowing that there is a major consequence coming right for her when she carried the heavier box of meat.

"I'm stronger!"

"No, I'm stronger!"

"Baka! I'm one of the wing spiker!"

"Idiot! I'm the libero!"

[name] then looked up and sighed as she saw the two idiots before her arguing; Kyoko and Naomi. She sighed with a soft smile on her face as they continued to argue.

"Let's ask [name] then! [name], which one of us is stronger?!" they both yelled out at the same time, causing [name] to stare in surprise and also paled slightly.

"Ah come on, all of you are strong alright." [name] called out as she lifted the heavy box higher. Not realising that the girls were staring at her in shock instead because…

.

.

.

She was the one carrying the 15kg box, while they all carried a 5kg.

"She's the strongest…" Kyoko mumbled, and Naomi nodded in agreement.

"Eh? Come on let's go!" [name] called out as she continued to walk, ushering her teammates to move.

* * *

"[name]-senpai! Look out!" [name] was busy talking to Aria about the tosses and spikes, and she didn't notice the oncoming bicycle. The bicycle made a quick turn, but it still hit [name] slightly on the right side of her, causing her to shift most of the box's weight onto her left side.

The cyclist just muttered some profanities as he regained his posture and balance, and started to ride off again.

"Hey!" Kyoko yelled out, but the cyclist sped down the pathway.

*Crack*

[name]'s eyes widened as she heard that very same crack she heard a few years ago. The very same crack that traumatised her. The very same crack to why she's going to stop volleyball after her graduation from High School.

"[name], are you alright?!" Naomi asked, and [name] could only nod with tears by the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall. Boy was she in a whole lot of pain, but she chose to keep quiet about it. She then started to walk once again as they were reaching the camp grounds.

They soon turned into the camp grounds, and were greeted by Nekomata and a few of the Nekoma High boys team boys. He then smiled, but did a cute pout at Yuki when he saw her, for he was still in his purple form, and everybody was trying their best to not burst out laughing.

"Welcome back! Come on boys, help them with the heavy stuffs. Put them into the cafeteria."

And the boys started to move. Kuroo quickly walked past the other girls and head straight for [name]. He then grabbed hold of the box, and his eyes widened at its' weight. He then looked down at [name]'s left hand, he noticed it was slightly bruised at the wrist bone, but he couldn't find words to speak out.

[name] then quickly bowed and mumbled a small 'thank you' to Kuroo, and pecked him lightly on the cheeks, before rushing into her sleeping room with the other girls to change into their sports attire, preparing for the training that awaits them.

* * *

[name] sighed as she sat cross-legged on the mattress and started to bandage her left hand and wrist tightly. She then stood up and did a few stretches, allowing her bones to pop some air bubbles. She then grabbed hold of her hair and tied it up in a messy bun, allowing a few strands of hair to fall down and cover the side of her face. She then got out her volleyball shoes and proceeded to walk out of the room as she was the only one left there.

Walking down the sheltered walkway, she was surprised to see a certain bed head leaning against a pillar, arms crossed and his eyes closed. She smiled and walked up to him, tiptoed and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips. She then felt strong arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her in. She looked up and saw Kuroo with his eyes opened, and a smirk on his face.

"I missed you." He whispered as he leaned down.

"I was just gone for an hour and a half, idiot." [name] rolled her eyes and pinched his sides hard so that he will let go of her, which he did. She then smirked as she saw he had pout, and turned to walk down the sheltered walkway, towards gymnasium number 3, where she knows the Karasuno team is waiting for both Kuroo and her.

Kuroo shook his head as he smirked and looked at her retreating figure. He then narrowed his eyes slightly as he noticed the bandaged left hand of hers, and he could only shake his head, without words coming out of his mouth. He then proceeded to jog, to catch up to her, and when he did, he placed his arm over her shoulders and continued to walk.

* * *

"Tsukki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left, left!"

"Hinata! I said don't act recklessly!" [name] called out and rubbed her temples. She enough Hinata rushed from his actual position to the right side of him almost immediately when the other team called out a left, leaving the center and right left with only one blocker each.

"Nice kill!"

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" Hinata cried out as he run his hands through his hair roughly. Kageyama then came up and kicked him in the butt hard, and the both of them got into a heated argument.

"Hinata you dumbass. Dumbass!"

"You're the only one who can't call me that!"

"Oi, the both of you stop-."

"DUMBASS!"

"BAKAGEYAMA!"

"Oi, don't ignore Daichi-san!"

[name] and Kuroo could only stare with dull looks at what was happening. This wasn't the first time that Hinata and Kageyama had gotten into an extremely childish argument. They then rolled their eyes as they saw the both of them throwing fists at each other, while the others were desperately trying to stop them.

"Oi, don't be an idiot!" Tanaka called out as he held back Kageyama.

"You too Hinata!" Suga cried out as he held back Hinata.

An angry mark was formed on [name]'s head as she continues to hear the both of them acting childishly. She then walked towards the whole group as Kuroo smirked, looking forward to what was going to happen before his eyes.

"Gah!"

"Ouch!"

And then it happened. [name] pulled both Hinata and Kageyama's ears and dragged them straight to the entrance of the gymnasium. The Karasuno team, coach, managers as well as teacher advisor could only watch with shock as they saw [name] pushing the duo right out of the door.

"Until the both of you stop your childish arguments, then you're not allowed to set foot into any trainings! And that means that you will be strip off your regular, and become bench players." [name] spoke in an extremely serious tone and slammed the door shut. She then walked towards the court again and then…

"CRAP!"

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!"

Was heard from outside the gym, and she could only shake her head. She then stood in front of the rest of the Karasuno team and gave off a rather murderous aura around her. The team then paled, including the coach, teacher advisor and managers.

"We'll continue without them. Bed head over there and I will join Daichi's team." Which then everybody else got back into position, but there was one problem. Both Kuroo and [name] are middle blockers.

.

.

.

"I'll be the setter then." [name] called out and stood at the setter position. Kuroo however looked extremely worried, but he isn't really that good at tossing as well and he got into his middle blocker position.

"Alright, let's start!"

"Ennoshita, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Alright, alright!" [name] called out and tossed to Asahi, the exact ball that he spikes the best; a high toss that is slightly away from the net.

"Nice kill!"

"That was a nice toss, [name]!" Asahi stared in awe, and [name] could only smile and turned to beckon Tanaka to serve.

"Tanaka, nice serve!"

"Ah crap!" number 7 had accidentally hit it out of the court, and then Yamaguchi ran with all his might and dived to hit the ball back.

"Nice one!"

"Over, over!"

"Chance ball!"

And all of a sudden Tsukki, Asahi, Tanaka and Kuroo started to move at the same time, doing a synchronise attack. She then tossed the ball up and to Kuroo who was at the back.

"Nice one-touch!"

"Suga!" Ennoshita called out and Suga tossed the ball to him. [name] however managed to slow the momentum of the ball, and tossed the ball up.

"Nice one-touch!"

"Chance ball!"

And [name] looked and saw that Tsukki was about to jump. She then tossed the ball directly to Tsukki.

"Nice kill!"

"Break time." [name] called out and the boys rushed to either to grab their bottles and drink up, or to the washroom.

[name] walked towards the gymnasium entrance hall to check on the immature duos. She opened the door and noticed the duo was not in sight. She then turned to the right as she heard slight snoring, and she was kind of surprise to see that Hinata had his head leaning on Kageyama's shoulder, and Kageyama's head was on Hinata's head.

She then turned and beckoned the whole squad to come over, which they did so as quiet as possible, and immediately stared in shock at the sight before them.

"I didn't know they both roll that way." Tsukki commented, and Yamaguchi could only stifle a laugh.

"Oi." Kuroo called out, and [name] covered her mouth from laughing out loud as she was holding her phone out, recording a video of what was happening. The boys stirred, but didn't wake up at all, and Kuroo then spotted a bucket filled with water and he grabbed hold of it.

*SPLASH*

The duo immediately woke up, and everybody burst out laughing at their shock yet sleepy looks on their faces.

"Break time is definitely over for you two, go dry up and come back in 10." [name] called out as she stopped the recording on her phone, and passed it to Suga for the rest of the team to see.

"Y-Yes!" and the duo ran off.

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey! [name]! Come help me with blocking eh!" Bokuto called out as [name] tried her best to hide behind Kuroo, but to no avail that she was actually caught before she could hide herself entirely. She sighed as she walked out from behind Kuroo and headed towards his direction with a slight pout.

"Tsukishima!" Bokuto yelled out and Tsukki immediately flinched and stopped what he was doing, which was trying his best to sneakily escape from Bokuto, but Akaashi just had to grab hold of him by the collar. Damn you Akaashi.

"Captain!" and [name] turned to look at the entrance of the gymnasium and was slightly surprised to see that Aiyu was standing there.

"What's up?"

"Coach wants to see you, he says it's urgent."

And with that, [name] didn't help Bokuto with the training, and headed out to meet her coach.

* * *

"Come in." Nekomata called out as soon as he heard the knock that he knows too well.

"You wanted to see me?" [name] called out as she shut the door behind her.

"Yes… I have some good news for you."

"What is it about?"

"I'm sorry if I don't have the privilege to know about your fractured hand and ankle, my dear. But apparently ever since you made your debut back in Seijō, there has been many sponsorships that you've rejected, and one of it was going overseas for college. I've spoken to them and I did tell them about your condition, which apparently they're extremely happy to help pay at least 70% of the surgery bills."

"W-What?"

"What I'm saying is, you'll be able to heal! You'll be able to continue your dream sport!"

"B-But… Going overseas… H-H-How many years?"

"5 years, my dear. It will fly past in no time."

"5 years…"

"You're worried about Tetsuro, aren't you?"

And [name] gave a slight nod. She was worried that Kuroo might want to tag along and study with her overseas, or he might not even let her go overseas for college as well. But she knew she loves volleyball, and she will do anything to continue her dreams. But being in a long distance relationship with Kuroo, will definitely break her confidence.

"Go talk to him about it instead of worrying about it." Nekomata patted her on the shoulder.

* * *

"Bed head…" [name] called out softly, but loud enough for Kuroo to hear. He then turned and quickly walked out of the gymnasium when Bokuto wasn't looking. He then stood before [name] and he definitely realised that she had a lot going on her mind.

He quickly pulled her into a tight hug and then guided her towards the grassy hills and then they both laid on their backs as they looked up to the night sky before them.

"What's wrong?" Kuroo asked.

"I… I don't know…"

"Sure you do…" Kuroo mumbled with a hint of sarcasm, and [name] could only smile at it.

"It's about… my fractures."

"What about them?"

"The coach knows about it. And he talked to the people who had given Seijō some sponsorships which include going overseas for college… He talked to them and they were happy to help pay 70% of my surgery bills…"

"But… You'll be gone for 5 years…"

"Yeah…"

"Can I go with you?"

"Can you?"

"True… I can't…"

"What are your plans though?"

"I was thinking of heading to work first."

"Oh… I see…"

"It's the best for her I guess. I can only support her decisions. But how I wish that I can be there for her during those 5 years…" Kuroo thought to himself as he wrapped his arms around [name]'s waist and pulled her towards his body. [name] snuggled into his warmth, and clutched onto his shirt tightly.

"Thank you…" [name] mumbled into his chest as Kuroo stroked her head affectionately.

"I'll be waiting, remember to come back to me; alright?" Kuroo spoke and kissed her forehead.

"I will."

* * *

[name] laid in bed with a tight feel on her chest. She hated how she was feeling. She decided to keep the overseas study a secret from everybody else, and pretended to act like everything was perfectly fine. Heck, she even told Aiyu that she will definitely come visit them when the year 3s have graduated.

She sat up looking at her teammates face with a sad look in her eyes. She will definitely miss them. She will definitely miss them to the point that it will hurt. She sighed and laid back down in bed and pulled her covers back onto her.

"Let's just… Make the remaining days be meaningful ones…" [name] thought to herself as she drifted off to a not so pleasant slumber.

* * *

Kuroo was wide awake in his bed. He couldn't stop thinking about [name] and knowing that she will be going away for five whole years. Five. Damn. Whole. Years. He doesn't want to be separated from her after all that they have gone through. But he knew jolly well that he doesn't have enough money to even buy a new pair of volleyball shoes. He sighed as he stared out at the window…

"Rooster head seems so distracted…

"Hey, hey, hey. He looks like he's about to break down."

"Did [name]-san broke up with him?"

"Maybe he did something wrong again…"

"I CAN CLEARLY HEAR YOU GUYS."

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm so sorry for the late update, I've been extremely busy with school this week! And this chapter is kinda like crap. I'm so sorry! Please be patient with me as I'm trying to juggle between my studies and the updates!


	13. STC Day Six

"Someone wake [name] and Kyoko up!"

"Captain! Vice-captain!" Aiyu called out with a slight giggle as she noticed the frown on both her seniors' faces when she called out their names loudly.

"Urgh… 5 more minutes…" the duo muttered out at the same time as they turned in their mattresses. Aiyu sighed with a smile on her head as she walked towards the curtains and pulled them away, allowing the blinding sunlight to shine onto the both of her seniors.

"GAH!"

* * *

"You need to stop waking us up like that…" Kyoko whined as she yawned and followed her teammates, heading towards the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Mou, but you guys are totally sleeping like dead logs! Apparently it seems only the sunlight can wake you guys up." Aiyu teased and stuck her tongue out at Kyoko while [name] was just yawning her life away.

All of a sudden [name] felt someone nudging her by the side, and she turned to look that Naomi was nudging her with her elbow and she pointed towards the front. [name]'s gaze was soon fixed ahead of her, on a certain bed head who was currently topless, and had a slight smirk on his face.

"You know, I'm hoping it will be winter, so that you'll freeze that smirk off your face." [name] called out as her teammates and her got closer to where Kuroo was standing.

"But you'll be there to warm me up right before I freeze to death, no?" Kuroo teased out and pulled her by the waist as soon as she was in a reachable distance, causing her to blush slightly as she was in contact with his naked upper body.

"Kyahh! I totally ship them!" Aiyu squealed out as she started to fangirl, and [name] swore that Aiyu had definitely broken a fuse then.

"Stop it, bed head." [name] whisper-yelled as she noticed her teammates were giving her smirks that she knew all too well.

"Why? I've got the world in my arms right before me." Kuroo spoke with a hint of adoration.

"Oh? So you're saying I'm round?" [name] asked, trying to tease him back.

"Well, you are kind of chubby." Kuroo commented, and [name] stared at him in shock.

"Well, I'm sorry?" [name] questioned and pulled out of his arms and stood by her teammates with a slight pout on her face.

"Hey! I'm not complaining, you're perf-."

"Oh, shut up already." [name] snapped with an extremely deep blush on her face. Oh how she hated that Kuroo knew exactly what to say just to make her weak for his words. Urgh. She even wished that she is able to shove a volleyball up his ass just to make prove that she can be dominant as well. But, ouch.

"Ne, Kuroo-senpai, why are you half-naked and standing outside here?" Aiyu asked as she tried to contain her fangirling.

"Are you out here to charm our dearest [name]?"

"Or could it be that you want something else from her?"

"Oh, damn…"

"I didn't know Kuroo-senpai was that _innocent_."

"You need to remember to use protection though."

"But it doesn't matter, we wouldn't mind having mini you and [name]-senpai running around."

"Girls, stop please." [name] mumbled as she was getting more and more embarrassed about the kind of thoughts that her teammates could actually have, and all Kuroo could do was to have a wide grin on his face as he saw how flustered his [name] was.

* * *

One thing that Kuroo loves about [name], was about her chubby cheeks. She definitely had baby fats on her face, and it was irresistible to not pinch or poke them. They were adorable, chubby yet it was an addiction for him to touch them.

Kuroo sat beside [name] during breakfast, and he couldn't help but to stare at [name]'s cheeks as she chewed her food. Sure her body was in the perfect range. She had the perfect figure, everything was in proportion, except for her cheeks; which Kuroo loves the most. It shows that she is imperfect, yet he still sees her as perfection.

He raised his hand as [name] continued to chew her food, and then he lightly poked her cheek, yet she ignored. He then pout slightly as he couldn't get the attention he wanted, and he poked harder, earning a small glare from [name] from the corner of her eyes and she went back to ignoring him. He pout even more, and his teammates snickered at his neediness of wanting to get [name]'s attention so badly.

He then pinched her cheek, and this eventually got [name] to turn and face him entirely. She then gave a questioning look, and all of a sudden Kuroo placed both his hands on her cheeks and rubbed them. She then gave a 'what the fuck are you doing to my face you idiot bed head' look.

"Your cheeks are so irresistible, babe." Kuroo whispered, and [name] immediately blushed heavily.

"Kuroo, you need to stop teasing [name] and let her eat in peace." Yaku called out.

"Pfft." Kuroo pouted as [name] nodded to agree with what Yaku had said.

"Kuroo is being needy…" Kenma commented as he poked his food.

"Very needy." Kai chuckled out.

"Well, who told [name] here to have such adorable cheeks?" Kuroo whined.

"Stop blaming me. You can't control your own hormones." [name] mumbled as she cut into the pancakes, and stuffing one into Kuroo's mouth.

"Now shut up and eat."

And that caused the girls and the boys team to snicker as Kuroo pout and chewed on the food that [name] had stuffed into his mouth.

* * *

"Right, right!"

"Nice block, [name]!" Kyoko called out as [name] did a solid block on Taketora's spike, killing it in an instance.

"Tch!" Taketora clicked his tongue and pout. [name] was definitely never ever going to go easy on any of them at all.

Training had returned to its' original routine, where the different schools will play practice matches against each other, and the loser of each round has to do a penalty, which today it was the grassy hill summer run.

And currently, the girls team had won a total of 132 games, and losing only 12 ever since the beginning of the summer training camp.

"10 running laps…" Kuroo called out as he positioned himself at the foot of the grassy hill, which he remembered that that's the place where [name] and him and stepped into a relationship, and he definitely adored that place as it felt like it just happened yesterday.

"Go!" and the Nekoma High Boys team ran up the hill.

* * *

"Tanaka, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!" [name] called out, and Aria tossed to her, allowing her to spike through Tsukki's block.

"Nice one, Nishinoya!"

"Connect, connect!"

"Kageyama!" Asahi called out, and Kageyama tossed the ball to Asahi. [name] immediately ran towards Kyoko's side and they both jumped up. Asahi's ball had come into contact with [name]'s block, allowing [name] to do a solid block and killing it.

"Nice one!"

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive, Kageyama!" and with that, Kageyama could no longer set.

"Leave it to me!" Nishinoya called out and he jumped from the backline, but immediately his face changed as he landed…

.

.

.

"I've jumped too far…" and the ball landed right on the backline.

[name] stared with wide eyes, along with the other girls and even the Karasuno team….

.

.

.

"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH." Everybody burst out laughing as Nishinoya got even more flustered.

"Leave it to me, he said!" Tanaka cried out as he rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach tightly and laughing his ass out. Even Tsukki was laughing out loud.

"D-Don't mind, Nishinoya." Daichi called out between laughter, but he couldn't control at all as he continued to laugh.

"Your supposedly disciple?" [name] called out as she faced Naomi.

* * *

"Bokuto-san…"

"Nice, one-touch!"

"Kyoko-senpai!" Aria called out and tossed the ball to [name] who did a quick spike as Kyoko faked out the blockers from the opponents' team.

"Damn it!" Bokuto cried out.

"Aria, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bokuto-san…"

And [name] immediately ran, not blocking Bokuto but blocking the other wing spiker at the side once she saw the ball had went over Bokuto. She then jumped up just a few seconds after the spiker had jumped and raised his hand; and she managed to kill his spike.

"[name]!" Bokuto cried out, and [name] could only shrug her shoulders as she went back to her position, leaving Bokuto to pout and whine to Akaashi about how mean [name] was being towards him; which Akaashi just shrugged his shoulders and stood back at his position, ignoring Bokuto.

"AKAASHI!"

"Aira, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bokuto-san…"

And Bokuto jumped, as [name] jumped up as well. Bokuto then looked towards the left and spotted a blind spot, which [name] herself had noticed. Her arms immediately went to the left once Bokuto strike down, and sure enough it was block by her.

But the ball was saved by one of his teammates in the nick of time, and the game was still on. Akaashi then tossed once more to Bokuto, who used all his strength to spike as [name] jumped up. But apparently he spiked the ball into the net instead…

"Gah." Akaashi coughed out.

"It's starting already…" One of their teammates called out.

"So early?"

"It's coming…"

"Ah, here it comes." Akaashi thought to himself as he saw Bokuto was about to speak.

"Akaashi…" And Bokuto immediately pointed at Akaashi and yelled out…

"Don't ever toss to me again!"

"There it is… Bokuto's emo mode…" his team called out with a sigh.

"Very well. In the meantime when I'm not passing to you, please calm down." Akaashi spoke in his usual tone and turned to walk away; leaving a rather disappointed looking Bokuto.

"What's going on?" Aiyu asked.

"Apparently it seems that Bokuto is in his supposedly emo mode." [name] mumbled out with a slight amusement glimmering in her eyes.

"Ah…" her teammates called out as they snicker at how emotional Bokuto can get.

* * *

Bokuto was in a daze during the match after Akaashi had agreed to not toss to him until he has calmed down. He was walking around in the match in the court as Akaashi tossed it to the other players, allowing them to get a feel of the ball.

As Kyoko was about to serve, Akaashi beckoned [name] to come closer to him and he whispered something into her ear. After he had whispered finished, [name] thought about it for a little while and nodded reluctantly. Boy, she hated what she was about to do.

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

[name] then signalled for everybody to stay clear from behind her.

"Bokuto-san!" and immediately Bokuto went into his extreme serious mode, and [name] wanted to block him so badly, but Akaashi had asked her not to… She jumped as Bokuto spiked the ball with all his might, and she didn't bother to close the gap between her arms… Allowing Bokuto to score a point.

Akaashi then nodded at [name] who had on a rather unhappy look, and then he turned to face his teammates and nodded at them.

"Yo! Ace!"

"Nobody can definitely defeat the ace!"

"Cool!"

Bokuto's shoulder then shook as he turned to face his teammates and he started to burst out laughing;

"I'm definitely the best!"

"Seriously…" [name] mumbled as she did a few squats in her position.

"You did that on purpose, right?" Naomi called out, and [name] nodded.

"Akaashi said that, that's the only way to bring Bokuto out of his emo mode. Plain annoying." [name] mumbled with a hint of annoyance in her voice, and her girls couldn't help but to pale at it. An annoyed [name], could mean death sometimes.

* * *

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] did a jump serve, and aimed it directly at Akaashi, causing him to be unable to set. The other players then hit the ball up, high enough for their Ace to spike, but then Kyoko managed to slow the momentum of the ball, allowing Aria to be able to set it.

Then, Kyoko and Aiyu started to run forward, while [name] was hidden behind as well. Aria then tossed the ball, and the blockers from the opponent's team were faked out as the ball went to [name] who was at the back, and she did a spike; allowing them to score a point.

"Nice kill!"

"Nice toss, Aria!" and [name] ruffled her setter's hair.

* * *

"10 running laps…" Akaashi called out as he pulled Bokuto along with him.

[name] then sat on the floor just beside the benches and leaned against the wall to enjoy the cool sensation. She was exhausted, that's for sure; and her back was killing her. And she was hungry. She sighed and closed her eyes as she tried to get at least a 5 minutes nap, when all of a sudden she felt someone pulling her by the waist.

She opened her eyes and she realised she was leaning onto Kuroo's chest, and Kuroo was stroking her cheek. She puffed her cheeks up and looked at Kuroo, who had his eyes closed and his smile wasn't his usual smirk or grin; it was a soft smile.

"You should smile like this more often."

"Why is that?"

"You look less pervertic."

"HEY!"

And [name] giggled as Kuroo snapped his eyes open and pout. He then dangled a plastic packaging in front of [name]'s eyes, and she grabbed hold of it to take a look at what it was.

"You've been missing out on your medications."

"Ah, so it was with you. I thought I lost it."

"And then you might want to ask Iwaizumi-san to help you get another?"

"Do I sense a hint of jealousy, my love?"

"N-N-No! I'm not jealous!" Kuroo blurted out with a slight red blush on his face.

"Sure…" and [name] caressed his cheek.

* * *

Practice had ended with everybody nearly close to exhaustion. Well, maybe except for a few hot heads, for example: a certain owl head, and a shrimp. [name] did her cool down stretches as she doesn't want to wake up to a terrible muscle ache. She had jumped, run and dived more than usual today, and she definitely felt like she was going to be in pain as soon as she wakes up tomorrow morning.

"Babe!" Kuroo called out and [name] stopped in her stretches and turned to look at her boyfriend.

"Let's go out for the night." He called out as he walked towards her.

"Yeah, let's do it… I need a break. A major break." [name] mumbled as she felt the ache in her legs.

"Hey, hey, hey! Can we join?" Bokuto called out as Akaashi followed him closely.

"Sure." Kuroo called out, and turned to look at his teammates. They immediately shook their heads as they wanted to practice some more, and then he turned to look at the girls team who giggled and also shook their heads.

"Alright, let's go wash up and change. Meet up at the entrance in 30 minutes."

* * *

[name] sat at the steps of the entrance to the camp grounds, wearing a simple short sleeves black t-shirt with long black skinny jeans and covered shoes. Her hair was let down and some of it fell over the shoulders, but most of it laid on her back and ended just in the middle. She was thankful that she had stopped cutting ever since they had come to the camp, and most of her scars weren't that visible anymore.

She took out her phone and scrolled through her messages. Her adoptive parents hadn't contacted her ever since she moved; and she had been wondering has anything happened to them. Sure they did beat her up due to themselves being angry, but she still loves them; for they gave her a home.

She called her mother's phone, but was greeted with just a beep. She tried dialling her father's phone number, but it said that the number was no longer in use. She then smiled a soft smile…

"Ah… They really did it…"

" _The moment you leave this house, you will no longer be our daughter!"_

 _[name] ignored and pulled her suitcase with her out of the entrance door. She needed to get away from the neighbourhood. She needed to get away from Oikawa._

" _Look at that girl! Why did we even take her in, in the first place?!"_

 _[name] smiled a sad smile as she walked further away from the main door. Maybe someday, they'll realise that she has been the one who had been doing the house chores, cooking for them, being there for them. Maybe they'll be happier without her._

"A lot on your mind?"

[name] heard a voice and she turned to look at who it was. It was Akaashi and he settled himself just beside her on the steps. He was wearing a simple dark blue t-shirt and long black jeans with covered shoes. His hair was also still in a mess, as always.

"Not really." [name] mumbled out, and silence took over the duo. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one. Akaashi took it as [name] didn't want to share her problems, and he respected it.

"Hey, hey, hey!" and the duo turned to look at the owl, as well as the cat.

Bokuto was wearing a dark blue t-shirt as well, with long black jeans and covered shoes, whereas Kuroo was wearing a simple short sleeve black t-shirt with long black jeans and covered shoes.

* * *

They ended up in the shopping district of Tokyo, and [name] swore that she should have stayed at home instead. It was crowded. Bustling with so many people, and she hated crowds.

"Isn't that, [name] from Seijō?"

"Look, she's holding hands with another guy!"

And [name] was about to let go of Kuroo's hand, when he gripped it tighter. She then looked up to him to see that he was giving her a reassuring smile that everything will be alright.

"That bitch gave up on Oikawa just for that guy?"

"Talk about taste."

"But isn't that the captain and setter from Fukurōdani Academy?"

"Kyahh, that's Bokuto-san and Akaashi-san!"

"It really is!"

"And Tetsuro Kuroo!"

And all of a sudden a huge swarm of fangirls surrounded them, and [name] was pushed out of the way, losing her grip on Kuroo's hand. Kuroo then looked around trying to spot his girlfriend, but [name] was outside of the crowd, on the floor as she had fallen.

* * *

"Ne, Iwa-chan~ Why is there such a big crowd?" Oikawa asked as Iwaizumi and him, walked down the shopping district together. It was their off day from training, and they decided to take a one day trip to Tokyo.

"How would I know, Assikawa." Iwaizumi muttered out as he looked at the crowd.

"Kyah! Bokuto-san! You're so cool!"

"Kuroo-san! Can I have your autograph?!"

"Mou, Akaashi looks so adorable!"

And then Iwaizumi spotted a girl on the floor just beside the crowd. His eyes widened as he recognised that figure and long hair, and also the sense of dressing. He then immediately turned to face the other direction and tried to grab hold of Oikawa.

"Oi, Trashykawa, we're going- Trashykawa?" and Iwaizumi turned to look and saw that Oikawa was indeed heading towards the girl that was on the floor.

* * *

"Are you alright?" [name] had her head down as she rubbed her bottom. She then looked and noticed a hand being held up. She then looked up, and immediately her eyes widened, and so did the person who held his hand out widened his eyes in surprise.

"T-Toruu?"

"[n-name]?"

"Eh? I don't feel anything." [name] thought to herself as she looked into Oikawa's eyes. She didn't feel scared of him, she didn't feel hatred for the person before her. She could only stare in shock to see that he was here in Tokyo, and now here he is, holding his hand out and trying to help her out. She felt neutral.

"It's been a long time ever since you called me that." Oikawa commented.

He found it funny that, he didn't feel like torturing her like he used to before. He didn't want to hurt her, and he found it funny that he suddenly stopped his crazy antics. He found it funny that he wanted to be friends with [name]. Maybe, he had woken up?

For the past few months, he had been thinking hard. He had been remembering how [name] had treated him. How much she had been there for him, how much she had cared and loved him; and then he remembered what he had did to her to repay her kindness.

He definitely woke up.

"Y-Yeah."

"Kyahhh, it's Oikawa-san!" and just when [name] was about to reach out for his hand, she was trampled on. Iwaizumi somehow managed to pull her out quickly before she was trampled to death, and he held her in his arms with a protective grip.

[name] then looked up to who had grabbed her, and she immediately asked;

"What's up with that idiot?" [name] then gestured towards Oikawa who was swarmed by his fangirls.

"No idea. He has been thinking a lot lately." Iwaizumi mumbled out.

"Babe!" and [name] immediately turned towards the direction of that worried voice. Her boyfriend stood there with a worried look and she immediately got out of Iwaizumi's grip and walked towards him. He then pulled her into a tight hug and patted her back.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? I couldn't find you!" he started to blabber out.

"I'm fine. Just… A little surprised to see Toruu and Hajime here." She mumbled into his chest.

"You feeling alright? Want to go?" Kuroo asked as he looked into her face. He was definitely worried about how [name] was feeling around Oikawa, but was surprised to see a soft smile on her face.

"Toruu has changed." She mumbled as she looked at Oikawa who was rejecting the fangirls instead of flirting with them.

"You don't have to be jealous though, bed head. I love you." [name] spoke up as she saw Kuroo's worried face, and his face immediately turned beet red.

"I-I love you too…" he whispered back and tightened his hold on her.

* * *

"Ne, so [name]-chan~ How long have you and rooster head have been dating?" Oikawa asked as he took a spoonful of his ice-cream. They were in an ice-cream café due to Oikawa wanting to eat ice-cream, and Iwaizumi had enough of trying to drag his ass back to the hotel.

"Hm… two days?" [name] spoke up as she sip on her cup of iced latte.

"Mou, Iwa-chan~ Eat with me!" Oikawa childishly whined out, and Iwaizumi… Punched him in the shoulder.

"Shut up already, trashykawa. Just eat." He snarled out and Oikawa pout.

"[name]-chan! Iwa-chan is being mean!"

"Just eat already!" both Iwaizumi and [name] yelled out, causing the other trio to snicker slightly.

Kuroo had his arm on top of [name]'s chair, and she passed him her drink to share with him; which he gladly took it and drank it. Bokutoo was busy eating ice-cream messily, whereas Akaashi was taking his own sweet time to savour his ice-cream.

* * *

"Bed head?"

"Bed head!"

"BED HEAD!" [name] then grabbed hold of Kuroo by his shoulder, and she finally got his attention.

"Huh, what is it?" Kuroo asked. He had been deep thought ever since that encounter with Oikawa. Bokuto and Akaashi had decided to walk around a little more, but [name] wanted to head back to the camp already as she was feeling slightly tired.

"What's wrong with you? You've been acting strange!" [name] whined and pout.

"Just… Thinking…" he mumbled.

 _Somehow, it ended up with Kuroo and Oikawa being left at the ice-cream café while the others had claimed that they wanted to go to the washroom. The air around the duo was filled with awkward silence, and Kuroo could only stare at the table, whereas Oikawa fidgeted with his fingers. Until…_

" _Treat her properly. Please." Oikawa muttered out, and Kuroo's attention soon laid on the dark, chocolate-brown hair man in front of him. Seeing that Oikawa had his attention, Oikawa then continued._

" _I know, you're probably going to think that I'm up to something. But I'm really not. I've been thinking a lot… Yeah, I'm mean to her. I'm not good enough, and I've only brought her pain an misery. That's true, and I know it back then. I just couldn't stop."_

" _How long is he going to rant…?" Kuroo thought to himself as he listened._

" _I realised she is the nicest girl that I've ever met. The kindest and most caring one. She always goes all out when she wants to make people happy, and I took it for granted. I took it like as if I could own her anytime and demand anything from her. But I thought about it for quite some time ever since I saw the gifts she had gotten me for my birthdays ever since we met in High School. Call me a bastard for hurting her, but all I want now is the best for her."_

Kuroo then realised that [name] was staring at him the entire time with a worried look on her face. He then raised his hand and caressed her cheek with care. Oh, how much he loves those cheeks of hers'.

"Are you happy? With me?" Kuroo asked, and [name] was taken aback from his sudden insecurity. She then smiled a soft smile and tiptoed slightly. She planted a kiss on his nose, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm happy. Truly happy." She whispered, and pulled Kuroo down. She then kissed him on the lips, and was about to break it when Kuroo held her head and deepened the kiss. It was a kiss filled with love, affection and a little bit of lust. They soon broke apart due to the lack of oxygen, and Kuroo hugged her tightly.

"I'm glad you are…"


	14. STC Day Seven

[name] woke up with a slight headache; which clearly indicates that she hasn't been sleeping well at all for the whole week. She sat up with a slight discomfort, and eventually stood up. She then looked at her phone and she then realised that today was the last day of the camp, and tomorrow was the start of the Spring High-Japan Representative Playoffs.

She stretched her body and let out a rather satisfying growl. Her body was aching more than usual, but she just ignored it as she laid back down in bed and covered herself; going back to sleep as she realised that it was only 0508 in the morning.

She then immediately sat up as she felt something flow beneath her. She muttered a curse underneath her breath as she gathered her ladies items.

"Fuck period. Why can't mother nature just send me a text saying I'm not pregnant."

* * *

"Someone wake Kuroo up!"

"Someone wake Bokuto up as well!"

"Kuroo…" Kenma called out, but Kuroo didn't budge at all. Kenma then sighed and left the room, supposedly giving up on just that very first try. But he ended up pushing Yaku into the room again and pointed at Kuroo. Yaku then walked over towards Kuroo's sleeping figure and…

*WHAM*

He kicked him hard on his butt, causing Kuroo to jerk straight up with wide opened eyes.

"Serious shit. Get your ass up before I start kicking you to Mars." Yaku mumbled out as he left the room.

"Demon Yaku is back again…" Kuroo mumbled out as he stood up slowly; his bones popping as he stretched.

"Bokuto-san…" Akaashi called out, and Bokuto was still snoring his life away. Akaashi then sighed and knelt down beside Bokuto, and whispered into his ear.

"Bokuto-san… Sarukui-san said he will take your ace position if you don't wake up now…"

And with just that one sentence, Bokuto shot straight up and yelled out;

"DON'T YOU DARE SARUKUI!"

And a certain Sarukui sneezed in the bathroom.

* * *

"Today we'll just be playing 6 sets of practice match, and call it a day. After that, there will be a surprise to reward all of you for your hardwork." Nekomata spoke in the cafeteria just before the volleyball players started their breakfast routine. He looked around and noticed something.

"Where's [name]?"

"She's not feeling too good." Kyoko explained.

"She's having a migraine." Naomi explained further.

"Oh dear. Let her rest for today then."

* * *

Oh, how [name] hated her migraines. They always came whenever she did intense workout or whenever she is on her period. She laid in bed, trying her best to not move about too much, but the pain was there. It was just there, laughing at her as she laid in bed. And she was wondering why did her period have to come, of all times.

"Urgh, I hate my life." She mumbled as she hit her forehead to neutralise the pain for a little while.

She then got up and headed towards the toilet as she felt a heavy flow.

"I FUCKING HATE PERIOD!"

* * *

"Left, left!"

"Aha! You left yourself wide open, missy!" Bokuto called out as he spiked straight through the gap that Kyoko had when she was blocking.

"Urgh, damn it." Kyoko muttered as she saw the ball touch the floor.

"Not doing too good without your good old captain eh?" Bokuto smirked, and Kyoko felt a blood vessel pop inside of her. Oh the nerves of this annoying owl head.

"Bokuto-san, it's the same as you without Akaashi-san." Aiyu pointed out.

"Yes. That's true, Bokuto-san. So stop teasing the girls when [name]-san isn't around." Akaashi called out.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is the only time that I can tease her." Bokuto whined out as he got back into position.

"Bokuto, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!"

* * *

"One lap of diving drills…" Kyoko called out and she started to do the drills with the girls. They had lost to Fukurodani Academy, a score of 25-15…

"I wish [name]-senpai was here." Aria mumbled out as she did her dives.

"One lap of diving drills…" Daichi called out, and soon the boys joined the girls.

"I WANT MY CAPTAIN TO BE HERE." Aiyu cried out all of a sudden, startling everybody in the gymnasium; and also causing a certain captain who was lying in bed to sneeze out loud.

* * *

It had been an hour, and [name] felt slightly better than how she felt previously. She sat up and winced slightly as the headache was still there, but this time round it was bearable. She soon stood up and stretched, her bones popping a few air bubbles, and the stretch on her ache made it so satisfying for her.

She then headed to change into her training clothes, and then she gathered her hair and tied it up in a messy bun, allowing a few strands of hair to fall by the side of her face.

"My girls are probably whining right now…" She mumbled as she left the sleeping area and walked towards the gymnasium.

"One lap of diving drills…" she definitely heard Kyoko called out.

* * *

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!"

And damn, [name] saw Kyoko miss the spike that Aria had tossed at her while she was at the side where nobody noticed her presence; doing her stretches. She shook her head and soon jogged up to the court that the her girls were playing at, and called out;

"Don't mind!" causing her girls to look at her.

"Captain!"

"Gah! Three in one is back!" Hinata called out, causing Daichi to hit him hard on the back of his head for his rudeness towards a senior.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Definitely. How many did we lose?"

"Three."

"Alright then, let's win the next three." She called out, and the girls came in for a huddle;

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!"

"Nekoma… Fight!"

"Eh, did I hear [name]-senpai's voice?" Lev ask as he bent down slightly to take a rest.

"I don't think so, she should be in bed." Yaku spoke as he did a few squats.

"Nope, she's there alright." Kuroo called out and pointed towards the court where the girls were playing.

"Tsukki, I won't be going easy on you." [name] called out as she stood before Tsukki. He just smirked, as if telling her to bring it on, which she returned the smirk right back at him. [name] then signalled behind her back to her teammates on what she is going to do, and they noticed it.

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!" [name] called out. Aria then nodded as she saw where [name] was running, and she did the insane quick toss, allowing her to do a quick spike almost immediately before any of the blockers from Karasuno could react.

"Nice kill!"

"Guys, we're definitely in deep trouble." Daichi mumbled out.

"No matter where Three in one is on the court, she is always able to score." Hinata mumbled out with a pout, and Kageyama hit him on the head.

"Baka, you suck that's why."

"[name], nice serve!" And [name] did her jump serve, and it landed just before the outline as Daichi couldn't receive it in time.

"[name], one more nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Bring it on!" Hinata yelled out, and [name] quickly signalled to Naomi where to stand, and the other blockers to move. Sure enough Hinata spiked a cross, and Naomi saw it coming as she received it perfectly, passing it to Aria.

"Kyoko-senpai!" she called out and tossed the ball to Kyoko; tossing a slightly high and a little further away from the net kind of toss, allowing Kyoko to be able to spike with all her might.

"Nice, one-touch!"

"Bring it on!" Hinata yelled again, and [name] quickly signalled to the girls; and they immediately got into position.

"Nice receive, captain!"

"Aiyu-senpai!" Aria called out and tossed the ball to Aiyu; tossing a slightly low and a little near to the net ball.

"Nice kill!"

"Nice toss, Aria!" Aiyu called out and she ruffled Aria's hair.

* * *

"One lap of diving drills…" Daichi called out, and the whole Karasuno team started their penalty.

[name] sat on the floor as she did her stretches to ease out the ache with the help of Aiyu pushing her down. All of a sudden Aiyu giggled and [name] didn't feel the force on her. She then looked up and realised that Aiyu had stood a side and allowed Kuroo to help push her down.

"How's your migraine?"

"A little better."

"You should have rest more."

"Probably."

"What's up with your cold replies?"

"I'm bleeding…"

"Where?!"

"Bed head. I'm on my period." She snapped, and Kuroo flinched.

"Kuroo-senpai, better not irritate her too much." Aiyu giggled.

"I hate periods." Kuroo whined.

"Why not you just make her pregnant, then you'll get nine months free of pms [name]." Kyoko called out, and [name] hurled her towel at Kyoko as her face went beet red.

"Great idea!" Kuroo called out.

*WHAM*

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. YAKU SAVE ME!"

* * *

If there was one thing that [name] hated, was definitely her period. Of all days she had to get it today, and tomorrow it was the tournaments. And today? It was barbecue time. She sat on the steps, holding her stomach tightly. Her appetite will always be extremely little whenever she was on her period, and she tends to sleep more than usual.

And then there's cramps.

Those dreadful, tormenting cramps.

Oh how she hated them to hell, and wish she could destroy it.

"Tomorrow is the start of the Spring High-Japan Representative Playoffs. Please get enough rest as soon as you reach home today, and try not to worry about it so much. I'm sure all of you have improved within this one week training, do not let that training go to waste. Now it's the time for you to relax and enjoy; EAT AS MUCH MEAT AS YOU CAN!"

And the crowd went wild.

* * *

"AH, DAMN YOU BOKUTO. DON'T STEAL MY MEAT!" Kuroo yelled out as Bokuto snatched up all the meat on the grill and stuffed it into his mouth. Kuroo managed to grabbed hold of Bokuto by his collar and pulled him back, and started to beat him up.

Lesson learnt.

Never ever steal Tetsuro Kuroo's food.

Unless you're [name].

* * *

"Kenma, have some meat! You need to eat more!" Yaku yelled as he held a plate out to Kenma. He was seated just at the steps where Tsukki and Yamaguchi were sitting at, along with [name] as well.

"Tsukishima! You too!" Suga called out as he held a plate out as well.

"Er… I can't eat that much…" Tsukki commented.

"No, they must eat meat!" Bokuto cried out as he joined them.

"Anybody seen, ah never mind. I found her." Kuroo called out and he pulled [name] up onto her feet. She pout as she didn't want to move so much, and Kuroo knew about it. He had noticed the change in her actions whenever she was on her period.

He then turned around and bent down slightly, which [name] was confused about it.

"Get on, I'll piggyback you."

"No. It's uncomfortable, don't you remember?" [name] whine and pout. Sure enough Kuroo suddenly remembered that one incident when [name] was on her period.

" _Come on, practice is over already. Time to head home." Kuroo called out as he shook [name] lightly on her shoulder. She was leaning against the wall, with her knees pulled towards her chest. One had was pressing her stomach, whereas the other was wrapped around her knees._

 _Boy she hated cramps._

" _You go ahead first…" she mumbled out._

" _No way. Come on, get on then." And [name] lifted her head to realise that Kuroo was waiting for her to hop on. He was going to piggyback her. She reluctantly got on as she didn't want to feel indebted to him, yet she wanted to go home so badly; but with this kind of cramps, she will probably start crying right in the middle of the street late at night._

 _They walked through the streets at night, heading home together; Kuroo with [name] on his back. He hummed a tune to help ease [name]'s pain; hoping it will take her mind off of it._

 _And then when they reached her house, Kuroo put her down._

 _Boy, did she regret letting him piggyback her. She had leaked through the front, and apparently it stained Kuroo's white shirt. She immediately started to cry then, which Kuroo didn't understand why until she pointed to his shirt, and his eyes widened in surprise._

" _i-It's okay! Don't cry." Kuroo tried to comfort her, but she cried even louder._

" _GET YOUR GIRL TO SHUT UP ALREADY!" one of the neighbours yelled out._

 _That was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened._

"Right." Kuroo mumbled out, and immediately swept her off her feet and carried her up in a bridal style manner; causing everybody to do cat calls and wolf whistles. And of course, the girls were fangirling and squealing nonstop.

"Put me down…" [name] mumbled. She wasn't in the mood to actually entertain Kuroo's jokes and stuffs, but seeing that he was dead serious on carrying her to somewhere, she just kept quiet as they head through the doors of the cafeteria.

Kuroo soon placed her down on a chair, and soon enough she felt something warm on her tummy. She looked down and realised that Kuroo had placed a hot water bottle onto her tummy, and boy did that help to ease the pain slightly.

"Come on, eat up." [name] then looked at the table and realised that there was a bowl of porridge. She then looked at Kuroo who was seated opposite of her, and he had on a shy look which he then opened his mouth and started to speak;

"I remember that you don't usually eat much when you're on your period… So I asked the staff to help me cook a bowl of porridge for you…"

"Thank you…" [name] mumbled out as she started to eat her porridge. She then stopped halfway and Kuroo wondered why she did it.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"You're not hugging me." [name] mumbled out, and Kuroo stared at her with wide opened eyes. He then smirked and stood up, taking the seat just beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing the hot water bottle onto her body.

"Better?" Kuroo asked with a smirk.

"Better."

* * *

Kuroo sat on [name]'s bed after he had taken a shower at his own house. He was waiting for [name] to finish her hot shower, and soon enough she did. She came out, wearing an oversize shirt which clearly, wasn't hers.

"You look good in that."

"That's because it's made out of boyfriend material."

"Well, damn. I am boyfriend material after all."

"I prefer the material than you though."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding, bed head." And Kuroo pout.

[name] then sat on the floor, and Kuroo immediately got out the hairdryer from her dressing table's drawer and started to blow dry her hair. He carefully combed through her hair as he dried it at the same time. It had become a routine for him ever since he became best friends with [name]. Whenever she was on her period, Kuroo always noticed that she was too tired and in too much pain to actually take care of herself properly.

"I'm nervous though." [name] spoke up all of a sudden.

"About tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry, you'll play well. The team will play well."

"Can't help it. But we'll try."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, [name] started to yawn, and her hair was already dried. Kuroo then kept the hairdryer back into her drawer and soon lifted his queen up in his arms and placed her on the bed. He then got into bed with her and pulled the covers over them. [name] then leaned her head against his chest and Kuroo's arm wrapped around the back of her, pulling her closer.

"Thank you, you're the best…" [name] mumbled slightly and drifted off to sleep.

"Poor girl, exhausted to this point." Kuroo thought to himself as he planted a kiss on her forehead. He then caressed her cheek, and smiled to himself;

"You're the best thing I've ever had in my life. Thank you for being mine…" he mumbled out as he tightened his hold on her and he himself drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** This is a slightly short chapter. Usually when I myself have volleyball camps, it always ends before the clock hits 5pm, and my coach tends to treat us to a big meal as a reward to all our hardwork for those days. Kind of sorry if this chapter doesn't really meet your expectations, but please look forward to my updates! I'm sorry if it's going to be slow as I'm trying to juggle between my schoolwork as well as this. Cheers!


	15. Spring High-Japan Representative Playoff

[name] woke up when she felt that heavy flow once again. She tried to get up but Kuroo had his arms wrapped around her waist tightly, and he was still snoring away. [name] felt uneasy about her period, and she turned to look at the clock which clearly shows that it was only 0423 in the morning. She tried to lift up Kuroo's arms, but hold on her just tightened even more.

"Don't go…" he mumbled out sleepily.

"Emergency…" [name] whispered, and Kuroo immediately let go of her waist. She then scurry to her feet and grabbed her ladies items and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

* * *

[name] woke up one more time when her alarm rang, indicating that it was 9am in the morning. She turned and spread out her arms, and realised that the space beside her was empty. With a slight pout she sat up and looked around; no Kuroo in sight.

"We're only supposed to meet up with the others at 12pm…" [name] mumbled as she got off her bed and grabbed her jacket, wrapping it around herself. It was raining outside, and lightning were seen along with the clashes of thunders, causing [name] to tremble slightly.

She then left her room and walked down the stairs towards the living room calling out Kuroo.

"Bed head?"

"Yes? I'm in the kitchen!"

And with that [name] stood at the entrance of the kitchen and watched with amusement shown in her eyes. There right before her, stood her bed head, topless. She then walked up towards him and wrapped her arms around his body as he was facing the stove and cooking something.

"You're up early." [name] mumbled out as she nuzzled her face into the back of Kuroo.

"Well, seeing my girl getting irritated by her period, I believe I should be treating her like a queen until her period ends, no?"

"What… Only when I'm on my period… Geez. And I thought you love me."

"I'll treat you like a queen during your period, other than that you're my princess." And [name] couldn't help but giggle slightly at Kuroo's pick up line.

The doorbell rang all of a sudden, and [name] unwrapped her arms.

"Who could it be…" she wondered out loud and headed towards the door. She opened it and was greeted by the whole Nekoma High volleyball team, holding umbrellas.

"Good morning!" Taketora yelled out as he pulled Kyoko closer to him to avoid the rain, which [name] smirked at Kyoko's blushing face.

"Morning, come on in!"

"Woah, [name]-senpai, your house is beautiful!"

"I smell something delicious."

"Bed head is in the kitchen cooking."

"And, breakfast is ready!" he called out.

* * *

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING!" the students from Nekoma High cheered as the girls volleyball team got onto the court to prepare for their warm ups, while the boys sat with the bleachers as their tournament was in the late afternoon.

"Today, you're all up against Date Tech." the coach called out, and the girls turned to look at their opponents who was at the other court.

"They have pretty tall players, but don't let that cause you to lose your confidence. Just play on!"

"YEAH!"

"You're all up against Nekoma High. You may not have heard of them before, but trust me, you do not want to look down on them; especially since they have Seijō's ex middle blocker. She's a troublesome one. Try to block her as much as you can."

"Yes!"

"Captains!" the referee called out.

"Alright, on court A we have the iron wall, Date Tech. As well as the recently debuted cats, Nekoma High! It seems that Nekoma High's captain used to be the middle blocker back in Seijō. Will we be able to see this match on fire or what?!"

"All the best." Both [name] and the captain of Date Tech called out as they shook hands.

The referee then tossed the coin, and it showed heads; Date Tech was going first.

[name] then went to inform the coach and ran up towards her teammates and started out their warm up.

* * *

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled as she brought the team together in a huddle.

"Nekoma… Fight!"

"BABE, FIGHTING!" Kuroo yelled out as the Nekoma High team stood in their positions on the court. [name] then turned and waved at Kuroo.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!" the chant went louder.

"GO, GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO DATEKO!"

And the ball was served.

"Nice receive, Naomi!"

"Captain!" Aria yelled out and tossed the ball to [name] and she did a quick spike, earning a point within less than a minute.

"NICE ONE!" the boys called out from the bleachers.

"Did you see that quick spike?!"

"No way!"

"Don't mind!" the captain of Date Tech called out.

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Center!"

And [name] immediately jumped up as soon as the opponent jumped up. She put strength into her finger tips in order to not allow herself to be blown off, and sure enough she did a solid block on that solid spike, killing it.

"NICE BLOCK!"

"Tch…" the opponent clicked her tongue as [name] turned her back against her.

"Yuki, one more nice serve!"

"Out!"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Yuki cried out and [name] patted her on the back.

"Don't mind, don't mind!"

"Nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left!" Aiyu called out, but Aria tossed to the right allowing Kyoko to slam down when no blockers were blocking her.

"Nice kill!"

* * *

"Match point!" the referee called out.

Nekoma High was leading with a score of 24-13, and Date Tech was getting demoralised by the minute.

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] decided to end it all within that one serve. She jumped and did a jump float serve, it went over the net and dropped just before the outline, earning a point.

"Nekoma High wins the first set!"

"Great job girls!" [name] called out as they headed towards the bench for their water bottles and 5 minutes break.

"Great job girls! Conquer the next set and you girls can rest more before your next match in the afternoon." The coach called out as he ruffled each of the girls head.

"Thank you, coach!"

* * *

"Number 1, number 1" and the blockers from the opponent team marked [name], leaving Aiyu wide opened to do a solid kill.

"Nice kill!"

And the score was 20-13, with Date Tech losing pretty badly to Nekoma High. The coach from the opponent's team called for a time out, and the girls soon rushed towards their respective benches to hydrate themselves once more.

"Good work girls, keep it up!"

"That captain is a pain in the neck; but just keep playing. We still have a trump card."

And then the coach had changed the formation of the starting set, and placed all the taller players in the front. As soon as the time out was up, they returned to their positions, and [name] could only stare at the players who were taller than her.

"Wow…" [name] mumbled out, and her teammates giggled at her cuteness.

"And they think that by putting the taller players in front, it will stop [name]." their coach mumbled out with a smirk on his face.

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left, left!"

And [name] went to block the right wing spiker as she saw the ball was being tossed to the other side. Despite them being taller than her, she jumped higher than before and slowed the ball's momentum.

"Nice one-touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Captain!" Aria yelled out, and [name] nodded. [name] ran fast towards the front, and the blockers quickly positioned themselves there. As she was about to jump, she ran to the right instead where no blockers were in sight and…

.

.

.

*SLAM*

"WOAH!"

"DID YOU SEE THAT?"

"THAT WAS INSANE!"

"NICE ONE!"

"Urgh, she's so annoying!" the blockers yelled out, and Nekoma High could only smirk.

"Match point!" the referee called out.

Nekoma High girls team was leading, with a score of 24-16.

"Let's end this in one shot, girls!" [name] called out.

"Yeah!"

"Aria, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Damn!"

"Don't mind, Aria! Let's play on!" [name] called out.

"Two blockers on the right!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Come on, let's do this!" Naomi yelled out as she passed the ball to Aria.

"Captain! We're counting on you!"

And [name] spiked the ball that Aria tossed at her with all her might…

.

.

.

"Nekoma High wins!"

And the crowd went wild.

"Nice one babe!" Kuroo yelled out from the bleachers.

"Naomi, good job!" Yaku yelled out, and Naomi could only blush.

"KYOKO-SAN!" Taketora cheered, and [name] smirked at Kyoko's blushing face.

"Karasuno High, wins!" an announcement was made, and the boys team from Karasuno High went wild for the girls team.

"Ah, so we know who we're playing against next." [name] called out, and then she waved at Yui who was waving at her.

* * *

"On court A we have The Cats from Nekoma High versus The Iron Wall from Date Tech!"

[name] and the girls sat at the bleachers to watch the match between their school boys team against Date Tech's boys team. [name] then saw two tall players from Date Tech, one wearing the number one and the other wearing a number 7.

"Captains!"

"Let's play a good game." Kuroo shook the hand of Date Tech's captain; Kenji. And the referee tossed the coin, and it was tails; Nekoma High was going first.

"Ehhhhhh…. That big guy is the setter?" Aria called out and pointed to the opponent's court. The girls turned to look, and sure enough they saw number 7 was the setter.

"I heard he just joined recently." Kyoko commented as she leaned against the railing and waved at Taketora.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING!"

"GO, GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO DATEKO!"

"We're like the blood in our veins. We must flow without stopping. Keep the oxygen moving and your mind working." Kuroo spoke out loud enough.

"Nekoma… Fight!"

"BED HEAD! YOU SOUNDED LIKE AN IDIOT, BUT I STILL LOVE YOU. DO YOUR BEST!" [name] yelled out and Kuroo blushed and covered his face.

"Kenma, fighting!" Aiyu yelled out, and Kenma's face blushed.

"OI, DELINQUIT MOHAWK! DO YOUR BEST OR ELSE I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" Kyoko yelled out.

"Yaku! Fighting!" Naomi cheered, and Yaku gave a thumbs up.

* * *

"Yamamoto, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

And the ball was tossed by the setter; number 7…

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" [name] yelled out.

The setter had tossed an extremely high ball, and he himself yelled out.

"Captain, I'm leaving it to you!"

"YOU IDIOT, THE BALL IS TOO HIGH! I DON'T DO WELL WITH HIGH BALLS!" Kenji yelled out as he positioned himself.

"Baka… He's not cut out to be a setter…" Naomi mumbled.

"Nice block, Kuroo!"

"NICE ONE!" the girls cheered as Kuroo blocked the spike.

"KANJI! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SET SO HIGH! I DON'T DO WELL WITH HIGH BALLS, I'M NOT AONE!"

"I-I-I'M SORRY!"

"Date Tech is in a pinch." [name] mumbled out as she sat back down onto her seat.

"Yamamoto, nice serve!"

"KANJI!"

* * *

It was a heated match between the boys from Nekoma High as well as the boys from Date Tech. The spikes from Nekoma High was most of the time blocked by the Iron Wall; Aone, and their setter kept messing up, giving free points to Nekoma High.

"Match point." The referee called out, and it was already the second set with Nekoma winning the first; and the current score now was 25-24.

"BED HEAD, END IT IN ONE SHOT!" [name] yelled out, and Kuroo nodded. He looked around and sure he spotted the setter at the back, he then smirked and the whistle blew, indicating that he has to serve.

Kuroo did a jump serve and it went straight to the setter, which he couldn't receive properly…

"Nekoma High wins!"

"NICE ONE!"

"GOOD JOB GUYS!"

* * *

"Alright, on court B where the volleyball girls team are competing with each other; we have the cats from Nekoma High, as well as the crows, from Karasuno High! It's the female version of the 'battle at the garbage dump' that we have all been anticipating for!"

"Let's not let our guards down alright!" [name] called out.

"Yes, captain!"

"Captains!"

"Good to see you again, Yui." [name] spoke up as she shook Yui's hand.

"A pleasure to see you again as well, [name]."

"Let's have a good match."

And Nekoma High was serving first.

* * *

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled as she brought the team together in a huddle.

"Nekoma… Fight!"

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Center, center!"

"TWO BLOCKERS!" [name] yelled out, and Aria came to block with [name].

"FEINT!"

And Naomi dived for the ball just in the nick of time, sending it up.

"Alright!" Aria called out and was about to toss the ball when Kyoko, Yuki, [name] and Aiyu moved at the same time.

"Nice kill!" and Aria had tossed the ball to [name].

"Don't mind, don't mind!"

"Kyoko, one more nice serve!"

"AH I'M SORRY!" Kyoko's ball had just hit the net hard, just beside [name]'s head, startling her.

* * *

"Match point!" and Nekoma High was leading with a score of 24-18.

"Come on girls, don't give up hope yet!" Yui called out.

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left!"

"Block, block!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Aiyu-senpai!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Center!"

"Nice receive!"

"Yuki!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Center!"

"Nice receive!"

And then Aria jumped up to do a jump toss, but it ended up being a dump…

.

.

.

"Nekoma High wins the first set!"

And the crowd went wild.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!" the chant went louder.

"MY GIRL IS THE BEST!" [name] heard a familiar voice shouting, and she turned to see that Kuroo was waving his hands like a maniac, and she couldn't help but turn to look at the other side and pretend that she doesn't know him.

"NAOMI, NICE PLAY!"

"KYOKO-SAN, YOU STILL SUCK!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I SAID YOU STILL SU-." And Taketora was hit hard in the face by a water bottle.

* * *

"Yui, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Alright!" Aria called out and she tossed the ball to Kyoko, tossing a slightly high and a little further away from the net kind of toss, allowing Kyoko to be able to spike with all her might.

"Nice kill!"

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Number one, number one!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Kyoko-senpai!"

"Nice receive!"

"Center!"

"TWO BLOCKERS!" [name] yelled out, and Kyoko ran towards her side and blocked Yui's spike.

"Nice block!"

"Don't mind, captain!"

"You're still not playing your full potential huh, [name]." Yui called out, and [name] could only cock her head one side with a confused look on her face.

* * *

"Match point!" and Nekoma High was leading with a score of 25-24.

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

And number four was about to spike, and it went through Aria's block; [name] then ran forward from the backline and dived for the ball…

.

.

.

"Nekoma High wins!"

.

.

.

"[name]-senpai…?"

"CAPTAIN?!"

[name] laid on the floor, with her eyes shut tightly. Apparently when she dove for the ball, she didn't notice Aiyu diving for it as well, and they both slammed into each other hard, but Aiyu's shoulder had hit [name] hard in the face.

"Oi, they collided!" Taketora yelled out, and the boys from Nekoma High stared at what had happened.

"[name]!" Kuroo yelled out; but she didn't move.

"[name]-senpai!"

"[name]!"

"Urgh… My head hurts…" [name] mumbled out as she slowly opened her eyes.

"[name]-senpai/[name]/Captain!"

"D-Did we win?" [name] asked.

"We won. But are you alright?"

"I-I'm sorry, [name]-senpai!"

"It's okay Aiyu… I'm fine…" And all of a sudden [name] started to cough pretty badly, and she spat out blood.

"[NAME]!"

* * *

"Oh god, I look hideous…" [name] whined out as she looked at herself in the mirror of her own bathroom.

"Nah, you still look like the prettiest girl I've ever seen." Kuroo commented as he leaned against the door of the bathroom.

"Stop lying to me, bed head. Urgh… My head hurts…" and [name] turned to walk out of the door, pushing Kuroo out of the way and headed towards her bed.

"You should sleep now, you'll feel better after you wake up."

"But with this bruise on my forehead, I look like as if I got stamped by an inkpad!"

"Pft, take it as it's a marking of mine then. You belong to me."

"Oh shut up you, you and your stupid pickup lines. Urgh."

"You know you love me."

"And I wonder why too!"

"Maybe because I'm hot."

"Hah, please. Stop making me feel nausea."

"Are you pregnant?! Oh my god, am I going to be a father?!"

"BED HEAD!"

"I love you too~"

And Kuroo jumped into the bed with [name], wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, falling asleep just like that.

* * *

"On court A, we have the girls from Nekoma High; as well as the girls from Fukurōdani Academy; it seems like Nekoma High's captain has recovered from the small accident yesterday, but… What's up with the-."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!" [name] yelled out, and the announcer immediately shut his mouth.

[name] huffed and crossed her arms as she and her teammates walked towards the court to prepare for their warm ups.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!" the chant went louder, and the boys from Nekoma High volleyball team joined the chant as well.

"Captains!"

"Ah, you're the middle blocker Bokuto kept talking about…" the captain muttered; and [name] instantly doesn't like her attitude one bit.

"A pleasure to meet you then, let's play a good game."

"Yeah."

And Fukurōdani Academy was going to serve first.

"The captain from Nekoma High is a tricky one, don't let yourself get caught by her instinct, got it?"

"Yes!"

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled as she brought the team together in a huddle.

"Nekoma… Fight!"

* * *

"Two blockers!" the captain from Fukurōdani Academy yelled, and instantly one of her teammates came up beside her to block [name]'s spike. [name] then spotted a gap in between the captain's arms, but she clearly saw the libero positioned behind her.

"FEINT!"

"Damn it!"

And [name] had scored a point with the feint as the libero couldn't save it in time.

"Pesky." The captain muttered, and then it ended up with a heated glare argument between the two captains.

"Is it me, or is it them?"

"Probably the captain from Fukurōdani Academy is picking a fight with [name]-senpai."

"Ne, Kuroo. [name] is getting pissed off by that captain."

"I can clearly see that."

"Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo!" and Kuroo turned and was surprise to see that Bokuto had came with the rest of his team to watch the match.

"Hey, hey- What's going on?" Bokuto asked all of a sudden when he saw [name] and his friend glaring at each other.

"Your girl captain over there happen to step onto a mine." Kuroo commented as he leaned forward to get a better look.

"Don't think you're the best just because you're previously from Seijō."

"Don't assume that I think of myself that way then." [name] spat out.

"Well, it isn't an assumption; it's a fact. You think you're the best, when you're not."

"Hey, what's your problem with our captain?" Kyoko yelled out and stood beside [name].

"You got a problem with OUR captain?" the other team's libero came up.

"Kyoko, don't bother." [name] mumbled and pulled Kyoko away.

* * *

"Match point!" and Nekoma High was leading with a score of 24-23.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!"

"Aiyu, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left, left!"

"Two blockers!" [name] yelled and Kyoko ran up beside her and blocked the spike.

"Nice block!"

"Nekoma High wins the first set!"

"Tch… You use your teammates like pawns." The captain mumbled, and Kyoko swore that she saw [name]'s blood vessel about to burst.

"What's your deal, lady?!" Kyoko yelled out as she pushed [name] back.

"Oh, hiding behind your pawns now?" the captain sneered.

.

.

.

"[NAME]!" Kyoko yelled out as [name] grabbed hold of the captain by her shirt. Everybody stared in shock at [name]'s sudden outburst, including the boys from Nekoma High.

"Get this straight, _Captain_." [name] emphasised on the title.

"I'll god damn appreciate if you wake up your damn mind from whatever fantasies you're having. I'm treating my teammates like pawns just because I yell out two blockers? Excuse me. Don't tell me that you don't call people out like that, because we all clearly know that it's a damn lie. You think that I think I'm the best? Sorry. This is volleyball, I'll never think that I'm the best. Volleyball is a damn team sports, and only the strongest TEAM stays. Not the strongest INDIVIDUAL. Got that?!"

"Babe…" Kuroo mumbled out….

" _You have no god damn rights to insult my girl like that!" [name] yelled out as she pushed the guy away from Naomi. The guy had called Naomi a slut for she wore a tube that was exposing her bellybutton, and also a mini skirt._

" _Get this straight, you no brain idiot. If I ever catch you insulting or advancing towards my girl, I swear to god you will never ever have to masturbate ever again, got it?!"_

 _And Kuroo couldn't help but laugh his ass out at the threat that his girlfriend had sent towards the drunken man before them._

* * *

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Left!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Aria!" and Aria tossed the ball to Aiyu; tossing a slightly low and a little near to the net ball.

"Nice kill!"

"Nice toss!" Aiyu called out as she ruffled Aria's hair.

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Right!"

"Nice receive!" and Aria had received the ball.

"Naomi!" [name] called out, and Naomi ran up towards the line and jumped; tossing the ball up.

"I gotcha!"

.

.

.

*SLAM*

"Nice kill, Aria!"

"Woo! That was a killer!"

"That's the first time I've ever seen you spike!"

"Nice kill!"

And the girls ruffled Aria's hair.

* * *

"Match point!" and Fukurōdani Academy was leading with a score of 25-24.

"Nice serve!"

"Nice receive, Naomi!"

"Aria!" [name] yelled out, and immediately the opponents' blockers came to block her, leaving Kyoko wide open to spike.

"Nice kill!"

"They're on par for the second set." Yaku commented as he watched Naomi doing squats.

"Stop staring at her ass already."

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Center!"

And [name] signalled to Naomi to stay behind her. Sure enough she blocked the correct spiker, but it managed to get through her block as she was pretty exhausted due to the lack of blood and food.

"Nice receive!"

"Captain!" and Aria tossed the insane quick toss which [name] smacked down just before the blockers could get to her.

"Yeah, nice kill!" [name] heard someone yell out, and she turned to look at the bleachers. All of a sudden the whole court was quiet as they looked at the sudden appearance of; Seijō's boys' team.

"[name]-chan!"

"Oh… My… God…" [name] mumbled out. Sure enough she saw Oikawa waving like an idiot beside Kuroo, and Iwaizumi just punched him in the back of the head. She then saw Hanamaki, Matsukawa, Kunimi, Kindaichi, Watari and Yahaba.

"Oi, you said you wanted to see her." Iwaizumi yelled out as he punched a boy with short-cropped blond hair with two stripes running down the sides of his head, just above the ears and his eyes are sharp and appear fierce and hostile, and he has small eyebrows.

"Tch."

"Ah? It's been a long time, mad dog!" [name] yelled out and waved. She then saw her junior having a light blush on his face as he bowed slightly.

"Did she just ignore Oikawa's call?"

"How rude of her!"

"Urgh, why did we even come to support this match."

And then Kyotani glared at the girls who started to bitch about [name], and they immediately shut up.

* * *

"Match point!"

"Let's end this in one shot!" [name] yelled out as she got into her position.

"Yes, captain!"

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Right, right!"

"Two blockers!" [name] yelled out and Kyoko ran to her side and blocked the spike.

"Nice one touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Aiyu-senpai!" Aria called out, and sure enough the blockers blocked Aiyu, but Aria had tossed the ball to [name] and allowed her to do a solid kill right then and now.

"Nekoma High wins!"

"Alright, I need to go." [name] mumbled and she immediately ran.

"[name]-senpai?!"

"Period, Aiyu."

"Oh….."

* * *

"Mou, but I'm hungry!" [name] whined out as she sat at the cafeteria along with her teammates as well as the boys from Nekoma High. The boys from Seijō had went to watch the match that the girls from Seijō were currently having.

"You can't eat so much!" Mukami Sensei snapped at [name] as she had been eating bananas and mangoes for the past 10 minutes. [name] then pout as she nuzzled into Kuroo's arm, which he just chuckled at her cute behaviour and patted her head.

"There, there."

And the worst thing that could happen now, was that [name] was having extremely bad period cramps.

"It hurts…" [name] mumbled into Kuroo's arm, and he couldn't help but wrap his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

* * *

"Alright, this is the semi-finals! On court A we have Nekoma High versus Shiratorizawa Academy. Will Shiratorizawa Academy girls show that they're as powerful as the boys team?! Or will the cats take hold of this victory and proceed on to the finals?! And on court B we have the girls from Seijō, versus the girls from Oomisaki High School!"

"GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, SEIJO!"

"PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, SEIJO!"

"Do you miss that cheer?" Kyoko asked as the girls' team did their stretches.

"A little, but it doesn't matter. I'm in Nekoma High now." [name] spoke as she stretched her legs.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!"

"Captains!"

"Let us play a good match."

And Nekoma High was serving first.

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled as she brought the team together in a huddle.

"Nekoma… Fight!"

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!"

* * *

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] did her jump serve; which the opponents didn't manage to receive.

"Woo, service ace!" Yaku yelled out and gave [name] a thumbs up.

"[name], one more nice serve!"

"Another service ace!" Taketora yelled out.

"[name], nice serve!"

"Woah, service ace again!" Lev stared in awe.

"[name], one more nice serve!"

"What, another service ace?" Inuoka mumbled out.

"[name], one more nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"About time…"

"Left!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Aria!" Yuki yelled out, and Aria jumped up and did a dump instead.

"Nice dump!"

* * *

"Match point!" the referee called out, and the score was 24-20, with Nekoma High leading.

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Kyoko had served the ball right into the back of [name]'s head.

"Don't mind, don't mind…" [name] mumbled out.

"Eh?" Kyoko stared with a confuse look on her face.

[name] was exhausted, and she was in a whole lot of pain; even Kuroo could tell. Oh, how badly he wanted to just run down and pull her into his arms and soothe her tummy, so that she could finally feel at peace.

"Nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Captain!" and Aria tossed the ball, but [name] had reacted a little too slow; and it ended up missing her right hand. She immediately went for her left hand and slammed it down, hearing a small crack from her wrist which she ignored.

"Nice kill!"

* * *

"Mou, I'm in so much pain…" [name] whine out as she grabbed her water bottle, and also rubbed her left hand.

[name] then felt a nudge on her shoulder, and she turned to look at Yuki who was pointing up to the bleachers and she giggled. [name] then turned and looked, and she immediately blushed at what was before her; Kuroo, doing a heart shape with his arms.

"Come on, give one back to him!" Naomi teased, and [name]'s face got even redder.

"Do it!"

"Come on!"

And [name] hesitantly did the heart shape, and Kuroo cheered out loud.

* * *

"Left, left!"

"One blocker!"

"Nice one-touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Yuki!" Aria yelled out and tossed the ball to Yuki, and Yuki did a feint instead as she had jumped a little too fast, causing the opponents to slide hard on the floor.

"Nice feint!" and [name] ruffled Yuki's hair.

"Tch, damn it… Those cats are annoying as fuck." The ace of Shiratorizawa muttered.

"Come on, don't pull on that long face. We just have to make the captain tired, no?" the captain called out, and [name] couldn't help but feel like she was being analysed the entire time.

"Captain, they're watching you." Yuki mumbled, and [name] nodded and whispered into Yuki's ears.

* * *

"Center, center!"

"Ne, don't you think Shiratorizawa is attacking from the center a little too much?"

"Come to think of it, now that you mentioned it; that's kind of true."

"Those pesky girls are trying to tire [name]-senpai out." Taketora mumbled loud enough for his team to hear. He then looked at Kuroo who just happened to have a smirk on his face;

"Just watch. [name] isn't that easily defeated."

"Nice block!" [name] had blocked the spike, and killed it with all her might. She landed and panted slightly as she was getting tired as each spike goes by. She then placed her hand behind her back and signalled to her teammates, which they saw and immediately understood.

"Don't think just because you're basically playing six versus one with our captain, doesn't mean that she's really alone." Naomi mumbled out.

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Idiots probably shouldn't be aiming [name] like that." Kyoko thought to herself as she did a jump serve, and it landed just before the outline.

"Serve ace, woo!"

* * *

"Match point!" and the score was 24-23, with Nekoma High leading.

"Come on girls, we've got our captain's faith!" Naomi yelled out as she did a few stretches in her position.

"Glad you know that." [name] yelled out as she placed her hand on her abdomen; fuck period cramps, like seriously.

"BABE! ONE LAST SHOT!" she heard Kuroo's voice, and she turned to see that he was doing the heart shape once more, and honestly that made her feel a little better at least.

"Oi, [name]! If you give up to the pain I'll punch you!" she heard Iwaizumi's voice, and she immediately rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

"[name]-chan~ Almost there!" she heard Oikawa's voice, and couldn't help but giggle slightly at how Oikawa was trying his best to look out from behind Iwaizumi.

"Oi, don't you have something to say to your senpai?!" Iwaizumi yelled and punched Kyotani on the head again.

"Tch… [name]-senpai…" he yelled, but soon kept quiet; but [name] knew what he meant, and she waved at him with a wide smile, causing him to blush.

"Mad dog~ You need to be careful~ The rooster head over there will peck your eyes out!"

And yet, Kyotani ignored Oikawa and turned to look at Iwaizumi.

"Don't do anything that will piss off the Nekoma High captain; you will never hear the end from your senpai." Iwaizumi spoke with his usual look and tone;

"Alright."

"WHY DO YOU ONLY REPLY TO IWA-CHAN!"

"[name], nice serve!" and [name] did her jump serve and it hit the net, unexpectedly.

"Shit!" [name] cursed out, but the ball had went over the net still but was received by the opponent.

"Nice receive!"

"Left, left!"

"One blocker!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Aiyu-senpai!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Center!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Chance ball!" Naomi yelled out and passed a high ball to Aria. Then, Aiyu, Kyoko, Yuki as well as [name] started to move at the same time. Aiyu, Kyoko and Yuki had caused the opponents to fake out, and Aria tossed the ball to [name] who spiked it…

*SLAM*

.

.

.

"AND THE WINNER OF THE SEMIFINALS ON COURT A, IS NEKOMA HIGH!"

And the crowd went wild.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!"

"As expected." Ai yelled out with a smile as she faced her opponents.

"What do you expect? She's [name] after all~" Haru teased.

"Ne, we still got one more point to go." Aikiko called out as she did a few squats in her position.

"Let's end this then." Mira called out.

"Ai, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Center!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Mira!" Aikiko yelled out, and Mira tossed the ball to her…

*SLAM*

"AND THE WINNER OF THE SEMIFINALS ON COURT B, IS SEIJO!"

And the crowd definitely went wild as well;

"GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, SEIJO!"

"PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, SEIJO!"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BE SURE TO WATCH THE FINALS TOMORROW IN THE AFTERNOON! WILL IT BE THE CATS FROM NEKOMA HIGH? OR WILL IT BE LAST YEAR'S WINNDER AGAIN?! STAY TUNE!"

"Ne, [name]!" Ai yelled out.

"Yo!" [name] yelled out as she turned to look at her beloved friend, who soon pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"We missed you!"

"I missed you guys too."

* * *

"Looking forward to tomorrow, babe?" Kuroo asked as [name] stepped out of her bathroom.

"Somehow, kind of?" [name] mumbled as she sat on her bed and Kuroo grabbed the towel from her hands and dried her hair for her.

"Are you alright though?" [name] asked with her eyes shut.

"I am, why do you ask? What makes you think I'm not?"

"Well… That last match that you could actually play." [name] mumbled, and Kuroo smiled softly as he grabbed out the hairdryer from [name]'s drawer.

"It doesn't matter if we win or lose, as long as we had fun. I didn't regret not stepping down then."

"I'm glad you didn't then…"

" _Match point!" and the score was 28-27, with Seijo leading. It was already the third set, and this final set will determine who will head on to the finals._

 _It was a rally alright, everybody was beyond exhausted._

" _Kenma, nice serve!"_

" _Nice receive!"_

" _Maki!"_

" _Nice one touch!"_

" _Chance ball!"_

" _Kenma!"_

" _Nice one, Watari!"_

 _And that single served ball was played on for a good 10 minutes…_

" _KENMA!" Kuroo yelled out, and he made a mistake…_

"I know you're still blaming yourself, bed head." [name] mumbled out as Kuroo kept the hairdryer in her drawer. She then stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a tight hug.

"But… If I hadn't hesitated that jump, maybe we could have won…" Kuroo mumbled.

"Hey, you said it doesn't matter if it's a win or lost right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"And you still have me."

"Since when did you talk like-." And [name] cut him off by pressing her lips against his.

* * *

"MY, WHAT AN AUDIENCE WE HAVE TODAY! WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO THE FINALS! WE HAVE NEKOMA HIGH VERSUS SEIJO. WHO WILL THE WINNER BE? IS IT GOING TO BE THE NEWLY DEBUTED NEKOMA HIGH? OR WILL IT BE LAST YEAR'S WINNERS?! AND COME TO THINK OF IT, THE CAPTAIN FROM NEKOMA HIGH IS GOING AGAINST HER FORMER TEAM, OH WHAT KIND OF MATCH WILL IT BE TODAY?!"

"Sometimes I find the announcer is hella annoying." [name] mumbled out.

"That announcer is annoying as fuck." Haru spat out as she did her stretches with the team.

"You're probably thinking the same way as [name] right now." Ai giggled as she did her stretches.

"Captains!"

"Just because we're friends, doesn't mean we'll go easy on you, [name]." Ai teased as she winked at [name].

"Expected, don't expect me to back down then." [name] stuck her tongue out, and Ai couldn't help but pull [name] into a hug.

"Doesn't matter if we win or lose here…" Ai mumbled out.

"Because it doesn't define our friendship." [name] finished her sentence.

And Seijo was serving first.

"NEKOMA HIGH, FIGHTING! AGILITY LIKE A CAT, THEY WILL SURVIVE!"

"GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, SEIJO!"

"PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, PUSH IT, SEIJO!"

"I believe in you girls!" Ai yelled out as she brought the Seijo team in a huddle.

"Make me proud girls. I have faith in you. We may not seem like the best, or play like the best. But as long as the ball hasn't drop, we play on!" [name] yelled as she brought the team together in a huddle.

"Nekoma… Fight!"

And the girls got into the positions on the court. [name] then realised that Seijo had gotten a new middle blocker which she has never seen before in her three years in Seijo; but the look that the middle blocker gave her, had turned her off. The middle blocker was practically glaring at her.

"Traitor…" the middle blocker muttered out, and [name] had an irked mark on her forehead.

"Oi, don't be rude to her, Hikari!" Ai yelled and smacked the middle blocker hard on her back.

* * *

[name] was in a pissed off mode, and she swear if killing wasn't illegal, she would have already killed Hikari right there and now. Everytime whenever [name] scored, she will always try to pick a fight with her, and whenever [name] blocked her, she just had to throw her temper at her own teammates.

"Oi, Ai. Since when did you get such a hot headed middle blocker?" [name] asked.

"Honestly, I don't know why she's here."

"Kyoko, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Ai-senpai!" and Ai spiked, which [name] blocked it, killing it.

"Nice block!"

"Damn, you're still blocking me like it's a piece of cake." Ai called out, and [name] could only laugh.

"Match point!" and Nekoma High was leading with a score of 24-23.

"Kyoko, one more nice serve!" [name] yelled out.

"Nekoma High wins the first set!"

* * *

"Match point!" and the score was 25-24, with Seijo leading. It was an extremely heated match between the two schools.

"Haru, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Captain!" and Aria tossed the ball to [name], but it got blocked by Hikari.

"Nice one touch!"

"Chance ball!"

"Center!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Chance ball!"

And Naomi passed the ball to Aria who jumped up, and did a dump instead; but it was saved by Aikiko.

"Nice save!"

"Aikiko-senpai!"

.

.

.

"Seijo wins the second set!"

"Don't mind girls, we'll get the third set!" both [name] and Ai yelled out at the same time.

* * *

The score was 25-25, and all the players in both school was exhausted and panting. [name] was on the verge of fainting from exhaustion and blood loss, and Kuroo definitely knew about it.

"BABE, HOLD ON!" he yelled.

"AI, HOLD ON!" Iwaizumi yelled out.

"Woah, Hajime?" [name] stared in shock, and the Seijo teams also stared in shock at him.

"HAHAHAHAH, IWA-CHAN FINALLY YELLED IT OUT! HAHAHAH- OUCH!" and Iwaizumi punched Oikawa in the stomach.

"Hikari, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!" and Aria saw the signal that [name] had shown and tossed the insane quick toss to [name].

.

.

.

"Match point!"

"THERE IT IS, THERE'S THAT INSANE QUICK SPIKE!"

"Woah, [name]. That was a first." Ai commented as she saw the mark that the ball had left on the floor in her own court. Ai then turned to look at [name], and she noticed her face was extremely pale and her lips were dry.

"[name], nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Haru-senpai!"

"Nice one touch!"

"Aiyu-senpai!" and Aria tossed the ball to Aiyu, who got blocked by her own sister; Ai. [name] immediately stuck her right foot out as she realised that her arm wouldn't be able to reach it in time, but she didn't see that Naomi was diving for it as well.

.

.

.

*CRASH*

But the ball went over the net, and landed in the other side of the court.

.

.

.

"NEKOMA HIGH WINS THE FINALS!"

"[name]?!" Naomi yelled out as she saw [name] was in great pain.

"[NAME]!" the coach yelled out.

* * *

"Urgh, this is annoying." [name] mumbled as she placed her head on Kuroo's shoulder as he piggybacked her back to her house.

"Idiot, you pushed yourself too much."

"Mou…"

"I love you still."

"Baka, I love you too."

"But that doesn't mean that I'm going to go easy on you."

"BUT AI SAID YOU SHOULD!"

"THAT'S AI!"

"HAJIME SAID IT TOO!"

"THAT'S IWAIZUMI!"

"TETSURO!"

And Kuroo stopped walking.

"W-What did you just call me?"

"Tetsuro?"

"It's been a while since you called me that…"

"OH SHUT UP AND BRING ME HOME ALREADY!"


	16. Separation

"I'm sorry…" [name] mumbled as she walked through the departure hall, clutching her suitcase.

It has been a few months after Nekoma High had won the finals, and [name] still couldn't bring herself to tell her teammates and friends that she was leaving them for five years; and she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to Kuroo, who was currently still asleep in his house.

* * *

"[name]?" Kuroo called out as he knocked on the door of [name]'s house. He had learned his lesson of barging into her house without her permission, and he has changed then. He wondered what was going on as he tried to call [name] on her phone, but it just ended with a beep.

He then gave up and decided to just open her door with the spare key that she had given. He walked through the front door, and closed it shut. He narrowed his eyes slightly as it was rather dark in her house, but he knew her house like the back of his hands. He slowly walked towards the staircase and headed to her room. Pushing it open with care, just in case his girlfriend was still asleep; but he saw no sign of her. He then looked around and noticed her wardrobe has been cleared out.

Hurt started to fill Kuroo's heart as he spotted an envelope with his name on it, placed on her bed.

Reluctantly opening up the letter, he couldn't help but clutch it tightly in his hands as tears started to fall from his eyes, staining the letter with it.

 _Hey bed head._

 _By the time you read this letter, I'll already be on my flight that is heading for the United States. I'm sorry if I didn't say goodbye to you, or assure you about me coming back; but then I still couldn't bring myself to see the hurt and loneliness that your eyes will show to me. So, please take care alright? And… I'm hesitant to say this. Five years is a long time, yet it will pass by quickly. People come and go, so… If you've fallen in love with someone else… Maybe you should get together with her… But still, I love you. Thank you for being my reason to love, for being my sunshine, for making me happy and smile._

"Baka. Baka. Baka…" Kuroo mumbled to himself.

"I'll wait…"

* * *

 **A Year Later**

"Still heartbroken over [name]'s sudden "break up"?" Yaku asked as he walked alongside with Kuroo, heading towards Nekoma High. It was their off day, and they decided to head over to help their coach with the practice.

"Kind of." Kuroo muttered.

"She'll come back. Don't worry."

"I hope so."

"Ah, Kuroo, Yaku! Just in time!" the coach yelled out as he spotted his former players entering the gym.

* * *

"Hey, will you go out with me?" Alan, [name]'s classmate, asked all of a sudden.

"Go out? As in?" [name] asked. She had managed to speak fluently in English, and she was able to communicate well with her peers.

"Like, be my girlfriend?"

"I'm sorry. But no." and [name] stood up and walk off, leaving behind a heartbroken Alan.

She clutched her books tightly to her chest, and quickly walked out of the college. She miss Kuroo, she missed him so much. But still, she didn't contact him; for she feared that he might have already moved on from her.

"[name]! Will you please accept this?"

"Urgh… Not again…" [name] mumbled to herself in Japanese.

[name] hated college in a foreign country. The people here had easily recognised her as the captain of the winning team, and they started to crowd around her. When she started college, she kept to herself most of the time, and only converse very little when she needs a little help with her assignments.

"I want to go home…"

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

"Don't worry alright, we'll inject some anaesthesia into you, so you won't feel any pain." The surgeon spoke as he saw how frightened [name] looked. She the nodded, and felt an ant bite against her arm.

"Alright, start counting then."

"1… 2…. 3… 4… 5…" and [name] was out.

* * *

"Hey there hottie, why aren't you dancing?" a random girl sat in the lap of Kuroo's, which he pushed her off harshly.

"Because I don't want to?" Kuroo snapped, and he turned to look at his former teammates.

"Aw, come on. I can show you a good time~"

"Not interested." Kuroo muttered out as he drown down his shot.

"Tch, troublesome men." The girl muttered and walked off.

"Kuroo-senpai, you shouldn't drink too much." Taketora spoke out as he grabbed the shot away from Kuroo.

"Yeah, [name] wouldn't be happy to see you in this state." Kenma mumbled as he sip on his orange juice.

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

"Nice kill!"

"Nice toss!"

"Match point!" the referee called out, and Nekoma High was leading with a score of 24-23, against Karasuno High.

Kuroo looked with a little disinterest in his eyes, and he looked around the bleachers. He then immediately stood up as his eyes fell onto the side view of a girl; who looked like [name].

"[name]!" he yelled out, but the girl didn't turn.

"Idiot, she's not back yet." Iwaizumi muttered out as he lightly punched Kuroo on the head.

"She'll tell me when she's back." Iwaizumi thought to himself as he has been in contact with [name] the entire time during the past few years.

* * *

"Alright, you hold your hands in this position, and then you bend your knees slightly, feet shoulder width apart, and you hit this area when the ball drops." Yaku spoke as he taught the newbie libero.

"When you block, you need to visualise it. Put strength into your fingertips so that you won't be blown off." Kuroo spoke with a slight bored tone towards his junior.

"Half of me is mad…" Kenma mumbled out as one of the junior asked if he was angry.

"Break time!" the coach called out, and the juniors rushed to get their water bottles.

Kuroo then stepped foot outside of the gymnasium and looked up to the sky;

" _Ne, don't you think the sky is pretty today?" [name] asked all of a sudden she looked up to the sky._

" _Hm?" Kuroo hum in reply and looked up as well, sure enough it was a beautiful orangey sky, indicating that the sun was already setting._

" _But you're prettier though, babe." Kuroo commented, and wrapped his arms around [name]'s waist, pulling her close to him in a tight hug._

" _Still a sweet talker." [name] chided and she pulled Kuroo down for a kiss._

"Oi, Kuroo!"

* * *

"I'm going home…" [name] mumbled out with a soft smile as she walked through the departure hall.


	17. Surprises

"She said she'll reach at 0900! Where the hell is she?!" Iwaizumi thought to himself as he looked out for his beloved "sister" that had left Japan for five years.

"Hajime!"

And Iwaizumi turned to see a rather different looking [name]. She was now pretty tall, and slim; she had grown out her brown hair, and now it reached her spine. Iwaizumi immediately ran up as he pulled [name] into a tight hug.

"Idiot! I missed you!"

"Aww, Hajime; you still haven't change one bit!"

"Don't push it."

* * *

"Ah, so apparently when I'm gone; Nekoma High and Seijo became some sort of best friends; and have been practicing together?" [name] spoke up after Iwaizumi had told her everything that had happened during the past five years.

"Yeap. And Oikawa won't stop annoying me on when you're going to come back. He says he misses you." And Iwaizumi stopped at the red light.

"He always says that. Even when we're not together." [name] chuckled out.

"And a certain rooster head has been drinking too much for his own good." Iwaizumi commented as he drove his car once again as the light turned green.

"Ah…" [name] mumbled out, a sudden sadness was shown in her eyes.

"Do you know what day is it today?" Iwaizumi asked.

"It's his birthday…" and then the car stopped. [name] looked around and realised that she was outside of Nekoma High's gate.

"Apparently, he has to help with practice." Iwaizumi spoke as he removed his seatbelt and opened the car door. [name] still sat in her seat, when Iwaizumi walked over to her side of the car and opened the door.

"Come on. He hasn't gotten over you, you know." And he pulled her out of the car as soon as he removed her seatbelt.

* * *

"OI, ROOSTER HEAD!" and Kuroo immediately turned to see Iwaizumi leaning against the doorway of the gymnasium.

"What do you wa-." And he immediately stopped his sentence and looked at the girl that was standing beside Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi then smirked and walked away; waving off and shouting;

"Happy birthday!"

"[n-name]…" Kuroo mumbled out, and all of a sudden he was pushed out of the gymnasium, and the door was slammed shut behind him.

"GO HOME!" his coach yelled out.

"H-hey…" [name] mumbled out as she shifted her gaze to the floor. All of a sudden she was pulled into an extremely tight hug, and she couldn't help but wrap her arms tightly around Kuroo.

"You're back… You're really back…"

"I'm sorry…"

"I missed you…" and Kuroo tilted [name]'s head, and he kissed her on the lips.

"Happy birthday, bed head…"

"This, is the best birthday gift ever." Kuroo chuckled out as he hugged [name] tightly once more, with tears running down his face.

"Baka, I love you." [name] spoke up as she wiped away Kuroo's tears with her hands.

"I love you too."

* * *

 **Three Years Later**

"Mou, where are we going?!" [name] whined as she was walking down the street with the girls from both Nekoma High as well as Seijo.

"You'll see soon enough!" Haru giggled.

"Come on, we're here!" Kyoko called out and smacked [name] hard on the back.

"Really? Why am I visiting Nekoma High School as if I'm still a student?" [name] muttered out as she was ushered into the school.

"Well, it is a Sunday after all; and you don't work on Sundays~" Aiyu called out.

"But Sundays is my stay at home with my bed head day." [name] whine out.

"TOO BAD!" Ai yelled and ruffled [name]'s head.

"URGH!"

* * *

"They're coming!"

"Everybody hide!"

"Oi, rooster head! Don't mess this up!"

"Or we'll both punch you~"

"Shh, they're coming!"

And all the boys scattered to hide in the hiding spots that they have created after they had arranged the tables in the classroom of Year 3 Class 5. Kuroo sighed as he sat on the table, and soon the door was opened and [name] was pushed in.

"What the hell?" she yelled out and turned, but the door was slammed shut. She then tried to open the door, but both Ai and Aiyu were holding it together.

"[n-name]" she heard her name being called, and she turned to look.

"Bed head? What are you doing here?" she asked and she continued to walk towards him. All of a sudden he got out on one knee, and started to speak;

"I don't know if you remember; but I do. On the first day of school when you attended Nekoma High, you made me want to care and protect you after seeing that you have scars on your arms. When you started to play volleyball once again, I couldn't help but fall in love with the passion you had for it. I fell in love with you when you're both vulnerable and not. When you show me the true side of how you feel whenever you feel depressed. I fell in love with you, and waited for you even though you left me without saying a proper goodbye. And honestly, I do not want that to happen ever again; so, [name], will you marry me?" Kuroo asked as he pulled out a box and opened it; revealing an engagement ring.

[name] stood there, her heart was beating fast and her eyes were filled with tears. She couldn't trust her own voice, which she just nodded vigorously and ran into her beloved bed head's arms, hugging him tightly.

"All that overtime sure did pay off." Kuroo mumbled as he slipped the ring onto [name]'s ring finger; and all of a sudden there was squealing as well as cheers; as the girls came into the classroom, and the boys jumped out from their hiding spots.

"SHE SAID YES!" Kuroo yelled out as he picked his soon-to-be wife up in his arms, and twirled her around.

"Ne, bed head. Even if you propose without a ring, I'll still say yes though."

"Oh hush you. I wanted to show you how much you mean to me; so working for this is worth it."

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

"I'M HOME, LOVE!" Kuroo yelled out as he walked into the house, and then he immediately smiled as he saw [name] was preparing the dining table, wearing a cute little apron.

"Welcome home, bed head!" [name] spoke as she went over to hug him.

"Hm… I smell delicious food!"

"Go and shower, and then we can eat." [name] then ushered him towards the stairs.

* * *

"Your cooking is really the best, babe!" Kuroo spoke with his mouth full as he helped himself to more of [name]'s cooking.

"Really? Oh right. This is for you." [name] spoke as she handed a box to Kuroo.

"Oh? What's the occasion?" Kuroo asked as he opened the box.

"Oh, you know. A mini us?" and Kuroo stared at the pregnancy test that was inside the box; which clearly shows positive on it.

"Y-You're pregnant?"

"Sure am."

"I'm going to be the father?"

"Nah, Hajime is."

"I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" and Kuroo couldn't help but quickly pulling [name] into a hug.

"Thank you. Thank you!"

"Love you too."

"We're going to be the happiest family ever!"

* * *

 **A/N:** And that's the very last chapter of this fanfiction. I hope you guys have enjoyed it! Oh, and please click onto the next chapter as there is some rather short messages for you lot!


	18. Short Message

_This is to the ones who feels like crap no matter what they do, or what time it is in the day. To the ones who tried so hard to keep others happy other than themselves; to the ones whom I deem as strong._

 _Please hold on. Don't crumble down. You still have a long life ahead of you, make the best out of it. Open up if you need to; speak to someone if you have to. Cry it out, laugh it out; make new friends; go all out on your favourite things, and things that make you happy._

 _If you have someone who truly cares for you, and is always there for you despite the number of times you push them away; please keep them by your side. These people are rare gems, and you'll definitely regret when you lose them._

 _Don't let yourself fall deeper into the bottomless pit of darkness, instead; reach out for that light that you always happen to see at the very top. Pull yourself up, be strong for yourself, and be happy for yourself. Because in this world, you're actually the only person who will ALWAYS be there for yourself._


End file.
